The Walking Dead
by Codez FanFiction
Summary: The first book of Codez FanFiction's "The Walking Dead" follows a similar base line of the popular AMC Series. However this version includes references and crossovers to other popular zombie flicks. It also contains new characters, storylines and relationships. Regardless, it is an epic adventure that features love, , drama, gore, death, and zombies. It is a tale of survival.
1. Chapter 1: A Beautiful World

The walking dead

A fan fiction by Codez

Chapter one: A Beautiful World

 _My name is Rick Grimes, the county deputy. The world isn't what it used to be. It's amazing how fast things can change. It all started on April 2_ _nd_ _. My wife, Lori and I, were dropping off our son, Carl, at school. It seemed like a normal day for sure. But I was wrong._

"Okay, you have a good day buddy!" Rick says crouching in front of his son.

"I will dad." Carl says and smiles.

"Come on, you don't want to be late." Lori insisted.

Rick notices something is up with Lori.

"Okay…Bye mom. Bye dad." Carl says and hugs them both.

"Bye buddy!" Rick smiles as Carl walks into school. Lori turns and starts to walk away. Rick follows her.

"You okay?" he asks.

"Fine…" Lori pleaded.

"Okay…well, uh, I'll probably be home late tonight." Rick explains.

Lori snaps and turns toward him. "Again?" Lori demands.

Rick feels bad. "Rick, I can't keep doing this!"

Lori explains with frustration. "Baby, I know but I gotta work. I need to provide for you and Carl. My family comes first, you know that." Rick reassures her.

"No! No, I don't know that! You know why? Because you're always at work!" Lori shouts.

"Because I need to provide for my family! You and Carl!" Rick tries to explain.

"You have a choice, Rick! Okay. So don't you dare pin this on Carl and I!" Lori shouts.

"Lori, you know it's not my choice…" Rick explains.

"Yes, you do. You always choose work over us, your family!" Lori replies.

"Lori…you don't actually believe that do you?" Rick asks feeling bad.

"I…I don't know what to think! Okay, Rick, I don't know! I'm sorry Rick, I love you, I do but you're never there! Especially when we need you. When I need you most. Just think about that…" Lori accuses.

Rick looks hurt and frustrated Lori sees it that way. "Look…I don't know what to say…I just wanna make things better. I wish I could. I love you and I'm tryin okay. So hard! Lord knows I'm tryin." Rick pleads.

Lori notices Rick is upset. She caresses his cheek. "You mean well Rick, I know you do. But maybe you ain't tryin hard enough…" Lori mutters.

Rick continues to get frustrated. "I said I'm tryin! I will prove that to you! I will, somehow. I promise I will…but right now I gotta go to work. Can we please talk about this later, when I get home?" Rick asks with irritation.

"At what, midnight? When you get home at midnight?" Lori asks sarcastically.

"Lori…" Rick sighs.

"Yeah, okay…later…" Lori mutters and continues approaching her car.

"Lori, I love you!" Rick says.

Lori reaches her car and pauses. She turns and faces him again.

"They're just words, Rick. I don't need words. I need a man of action…" Lori states. Lori gets in the car and drives away. Rick watches her leave and is hurt by these words. He gets in his car and leaves.

 _As I drove to work I was really thinking hard about what Lori said to me. Was she right? It was really bugging me. Yeah, maybe she was right. I do need to try a little harder I guess… Anyway, I got to the station and was greeted by my partner, Shane Walsh._

"Hey there, Rick." Shane greets.

"Shane. What we got today?" Rick nods in a greeting way and asks.

"Sherriff just informed me, we got a call about some out of control speeders, and they're armed apparently, on the back roads of town. Near Candle Creek." Shane explains.

"Alrighty then, suppose we better head over there then." Rick indicates. Shane nods. They get into their vehicle and head over to the old back streets of town.

When they arrive they set up a spike strip across the road and then sit back in their vehicle.

"So how's Lori?" Shane asks.

"Lori…well, yeah…she's okay I guess. I mean, I don't know. I think she's just a little mad cause I work too much…" Rick explains.

"Ah, Rick. It's true you work too hard man. You gotta take a break and spend time with your family." Shane agrees.

"You think?" Rick asks.

"Yeah man, you got a beautiful wife man. Tell you what, after we round up these red necks, you head on home to that pretty lady of yours and surprise her. Take the rest of the day off to spend time with her." Shane suggests.

"What? Are you serious?" Rick laughs.

"Yeah man, come on, why not? I mean it's getting pretty quiet nowadays anyway. So I don't think the sheriff will mind." Shane explains.

Rick laughs but agrees. "Yeah. Okay. You're right man, you are absolutely right. Gosh man that big head of yours gives some good advice now and then." Rick laughs.

"My big head? Come one man, girls love my big head." Shane laughs.

"Do they?" Rick jokes. They both laugh.

"Anyway man, how's Carl?" Shane asks.

"He's good, he's been working hard in school. Earning the grades so we will take him camping this summer." Rick explains proudly.

"Camping. You? Where?" Shane laughs and asks.

"I can camp! I was born to survive in the wild. We thinking of heading to the lake." Rick explains.

"Nice…" Shane nods.

As their conversation becomes quiet the sound of a fast revving engine in the distance sounds. "Come on man, here they come." Shane says.

"Alright you guys ready?" Rick uses his radio to inform the officers in the car behind them.

The racing car speeds up and the tires are slashed as it runs over the spike strip. The car runs off the side of the road doing a flip, crashing over the barbed wired fence. "Oh shit!" Shane gasps.

Rick, Shane and the other officer get out of the vehicles and observe the car wreck in the distance of the field. "You think their dead?" Shane asks.

"I do not know." Rick sighs.

"Deputy, I see movement." Officer Sam informs them.

Rick and Shane notice two men crawling out of the car and they are armed. "This is Deputy Grimes, I command you to drop you weapons and put your hands over your head!" Rick shouts.

One of the men stand and fires a shot. "Pigs!" The man yells. The shot hits Officer Sam.

Rick and Shane duck behind their car as they see Sam falling to the ground and Officer Thompson running over to Sam. Another shot is fired. Thompson is then hit and falls to the ground. Shane fires three shots. Hitting one of the men. The other man sneaks closer to the fence and aims at the cop car. "Okay, you keep him distracted, I'll make the shot…" Rick whispers and explains. Shane nods.

Rick sneaks behind the other police car while Shane fires a few more random shots, deliberately missing the man for a distraction. The man aims at Shane, thinking he has a clear shot. Rick then walks toward the man pointing his gun at the man. "Drop it!" Rick demands. The man drops the weapon as Shane stands up and backs Rick up, pointing his gun at the man too.

Suddenly a shot is fired. A third man gets out of the wrecked vehicle and fires his weapon. Rick is hit. Rick falls to the ground. Shane is startled and shocked. "Rick! No!" Shane shouts then shoots the last man down in anger for revenge. Shane runs over to Rick, who is laying on the road in a pool of his blood.

"Shane…" Rick tries to speak.

"I'm here buddy, I'm here…" Shane sighs with teary eyes.

"Look after…Lori…" Rick stutters then closes his eyes.

"No Rick! Don't close those eyes! Rick! No!" Shane shouts with sadness and anger as the tears run down his face.

 _Yeah, I was shot. I don't remember much of that moment, just that it hurt like a bitch. I remember falling and in that moment I saw a vision, a memory in my mind. A vision about Lori and Carl. They were happy. We were happy. I thought I was gonna die…and I knew I'd never be able to relive that moment ever again…_

In the hospital, Rick had just had a medical procedure done and Shane had brought flowers and visited him. Rick was in a comma. "I brought you some flowers man…come on man, please wake up if you can hear me…we need you here, your wife needs you, Carl needs you, I need you man!" Shane mutters placing the flowers beside Rick's bedside. Shane sits silently beside the bed watching Rick sleep. Shane eventually drifts off into a sleep.

June 12th,

Rick has awoken from his comma. He is breathing heavily, readjusting himself to the situation trying to remember the past events. He notices the withered flowers on his bedside. Rick tries to get up and out of bed but falls onto the floor. He sits up and tries to yell for help but it's not loud at all. He crawls toward the door, taking out his IV drip, and he stands himself up. He tries pushing the door open but it's a struggle, there's a bed blocking the door. Rick is weak but tries pushing harder to get out of the room.

When Rick enters the hallway he has also entered a whole new world. Rick notices bullet holes all over the walls, smashed glass, broken lights and even bloodstains. Rick staggers down the hall where he finds a few rotten corpses by the exit. Rick blocks his nose and tries to get out but it's locked. Rick is so confused about what has happened and how long he was asleep for. Rick makes his way down another hallway where he comes to a door, it's locked and has a board preventing it being opened. Written on the door, in blood, is a warning. "DON'T OPEN, DEAD INSIDE!" Rick is confused and approaches the door. He is then startled as the door is pushed slightly open and a few monstrous hands poke through the crack trying to get out. Rick has now established something really messed up is happening. Rick moves faster to another exit.

Eventually Rick manages to escape and finds himself outside in bright daylight. No one in sight. Damaged cars and property all around him. Then he notices something strange. It looks to be at least a dozen bodies covered by white sheets on the ground. Rick hesitates but lifts one of sheets to find a rotten corpse. Rick was now starting to panic, he was worried about his family. He ran through the park where he sees half of a crawling, rotten, corpse crawling toward him snarling. Rick can't believe it. He is so confused and shocked. Rick rushes down the street until he reaches his home and he storms in looking for Lori and Carl. But they are nowhere to be seen…

 _It was like I entered a totally different world. A world where I was the only one alive. I don't know what I missed but all I wanted to do was find my family. Yeah I was scared, I didn't know where to start but I had to find Lori. I had to find Carl. I needed to know they were okay and safe! So I thought I'd head to the police station for a start and see if I could get any understating of what has happened and how long I was out for. Turns out I was in a comma for two months! It feels like I have been reborn into an apocalyptic world, a zombie apocalypse, like a movie or something…_

Rick exits his home after noticing that pictures and clothing were gone. Which could only mean one possibility, Lori and Carl were alive when they left but where were they now? Rick wanders down the street where he slowly makes his way to the police station but then behind him he startled by a voice. "Talk!" the voice demands. Rick is still unsure of what to do. The person circles Rick, pointing his gun at him.

"I said talk!" the voice demands again.

Rick observes the man. He looks to be middle aged, African-American and scared. Rick can see the fear and aggression in this man's eyes as he is pointing his rifle at Rick. Rick clears his throat. "Please…" Rick mutters.

The man eventually lowers his weapon and begins to walk away.

"Please…don't leave me…" Rick sighs.

The man continues walking away until a kid comes out of the bushes. "Dad, is he one of them?" the kid asks. The man stops and turns to the kid.

"I told you to stay hidden!" the man grunts.

"But dad, we can't leave him here…" the kid expresses his concern.

"He's not our problem…c'mon now…" the man grunts and begins to walk away dragging his son with him.

"Wait! Please…I'm not dangerous…" Rick begs.

The man stops and turns to Rick. He looks down into his son's eyes and sighs. He signals Rick to follow them.

Rick follows them to their home. "There's a bathroom upstairs, we only have cold water but we got some food and water to drink. I'll get you some clothes so you can get out of that…um, robe…" the man explains to Rick.

"Thank you…" Rick says. The man hands Rick some clothes.

"When you're done, come back down for supper and we can have a little chat…" the man explains.

"Okay…" Rick nods and begins to walk up the staircase but then stops and turns back toward the man. "I'm Rick…Rick Grimes…" Rick says.

The man turns towards Rick. "Morgan…" the man reveals.

Once Rick has had a shower and is dressed in some normal clothes he makes his way downstairs where Morgan and his son are sitting by a candle lit table. Rick joins them. "Candles?" Rick asks.

"We don't like to use our lights or at least not all of them…it attracts them…gets their attention…" Morgan explains.

"Those things…those walkers?" Rick asks.

"Walkers? I like that…yeah well those walkers they come where ever there is light, where there is sound, where there is…blood…" Morgan explains.

"Wow…what are they?" Rick asks.

"Zombies!" the boy announces.

"Duane!" Morgan grunts.

"What?" Rick asks.

"I don't like to call them that…but my son, Duane, that's what he likes to call them…because I guess that's what they really are…the undead…" Morgan explains.

"Oh my god…so it is true…I saw one…in the park. I…I had no idea what it was…my first thought was it was a zombie…a walker, but I couldn't bring myself to believe that it was true…what happened here?" Rick asks.

"Back in late March, there were rumours of an infection, a virus, a disease, spreading around from cannibalistic behaviour and bites. It started in Africa or the middle east or something…anyway people were not paying much attention to it thought it was a hoax or just another type of flu. But then it kept spreading and went from Australia, Europe, Mexico, Ohio and then everywhere else. Everyone was turning. It hit this town overnight, it all happened over night…at the start of April. The town evacuated but some people couldn't accept to leave… they lost people…we lost people…" Morgan explains.

"Did you lose anyone?" Duane asks Rick.

"Uh, well…I don't know…my wife and son…they aren't home…I think they left, I think maybe they could be somewhere safe…" Rick hopes.

"Doubt it…no offense to you but a lot people from this town…their either dead or they're out there…dead…" Morgan replies.

Rick gets up and peaks through the window watching as walkers walk down the street.

"Come back here, we need to say grace!" Morgan whispers insistently. Rick walks back over and sits.

"Duane will you do the honour…" Morgan bows his head, followed by Rick.

"Oh lord, thank you for getting us through another day. Yes, it may get harder with each passing day but my father and I keep each other strong. So bless us father for the strength to continue and bless our new friend, Rick, who seems decent and kind enough…we thank you father for this meal as it could be our last but we are guided by your signs of nature." Duane preaches.

"Amen…" Morgan says.

"Amen." Rick adds.

They begin eating their dinner. "So uh, I wanna thank you again for letting me stay here with you…" Rick says.

"It's okay…it was kinda refreshing to see another normal person out there…" Morgan reveals.

"What happened to you?" Duane asks Rick.

"Yeah…" Morgan agrees to know.

"Well uh, it seems like just yesterday…April 1st, see I am the local deputy and I got a call out with my partner and some back up for a reckless armed driving call and two officers were shot and killed. Then suddenly, I got shot too…I was in a comma…which makes me need to ask…what month is it?" Rick explains.

"It's June…" Morgan reveals.

"What? No man it can't be…" Rick laughs with sarcasm.

"It's true…" Duane adds.

"But I thought you said our town got overrun in April…" Rick says.

"We did…" Morgan answers.

"I finished my supper dad…I'll go keep watch…" Duane says and stands by the window.

Rick shakes his head and tries thinking hard with confusion. "So…two months? You guys have been livin here and surviving for two months?" Rick asks.

Morgan nods. "Oh god…no. No! It can't be, it couldn't have been that long!" Rick grunts with sadness and confusion.

"I'm sorry…" Morgan says.

"So, who have you lost?" Rick asks with curiosity.

Suddenly Rick got the answer to that question. "Daddy! Daddy! She's here! She's coming!" Duane shouts with fear.

"Duane, it is gonna be okay…come on lay down and stay down!" Morgan demands.

"What's going on? Who's here?" Rick asks with confusion following Morgan to the window.

"My wife…" Morgan mutters. Rick is shocked and feels bad for them. Rick and Morgan stare out the window as they see a living dead version of Morgan's wife, Monica. Monica stumbles up the porch toward the door.

"The lights! Quick dim the lights!" Morgan commands quietly. Rick blows out some of the nearby candles and Duane flicks the light switch. Morgan looks through the peephole on the door and looks at his – once beautiful – normal wife. Monica stares at the door and eventually stumbles away. Rick and Morgan gasp with relief.

"So what do we do?" Rick asks. Morgan looks out the window and sighs with worry as the number of walkers in the street has doubled. "We can't stay here…"Rick continues.

"He's right dad, it's getting too dangerous…" Duane adds.

"Where would we go?" Morgan asks.

"I was thinkin bout heading to the police station, see if I could find anything useful. A phone, weapons, maybe even another normal living person…" Rick sighs with hope.

"That's not a bad idea…the police station is bound to be loaded with guns and protection right?" Morgan agrees.

"It sure is, I say we sneak down Bramley Street, it looks to be the quietest rather than the main road." Rick suggests.

"Sounds like a plan, we go tomorrow…" Morgan confirms.

"But dad…" Duane mutters.

"Yes son?" Morgan asks turning toward him.

"What about mom? Are we just gonna leave her walking around out there?" Duane sighs.

Morgan walks over to Duane and gets on his knees in front of his son and looks him in the eyes. "Duane, your mom can't come with us you know that…" Morgan sighs.

"I know…I just…I'm gonna miss her and not being able to see her alive or dead…sucks…I know she isn't mom anymore. But she is. I don't want her walking around out there while her body is controlled by a disease…" Duane begins to mutter as he starts tearing up.

"Duane…" Morgan sighs.

"No! Dad, I don't want mom to be killed by anyone else…that thing outside may not be my mom but I don't want some stranger killing her…we should be the ones to do that…I know you don't want to but we need to let mom rest in peace…" Duane explains sobbing with streaming tears.

Morgan tears up but he knows what Duane says is true. Rick tears up watching this emotional scene. "Duane, look at me… I completely agree with you…that's a very brave and mature thing of you to say…come here I'm sorry…" Morgan cries and hugs his son. "Tell you what, we will sleep on it. Okay?" Morgan continues. Duane wipes his tears and nods. "Okay, come on go to sleep…I love you son." Morgan sighs.

Rick follows Morgan into the other room. "Sorry bout that…" Morgan mutters clearing his throat.

"No don't apologize, it is okay…" Rick replies.

"This is really gonna be hard for him…" Morgan says.

"And you too I imagine…" Rick replies.

"Yeah…you know what he said…I know it's true, I have been thinking about it…but I don't think I could ever bring myself to do it…" Morgan sighs.

"You don't have to do it alone…I'm here for you both. You took me in. I wanna help and support anyway I can." Rick explains.

"I don't wanna leave just yet…I mean sure we can go to the police station but I need to spend at least another night or two here…ya know? Maybe then we can head to the CDC, last I heard that's where the cure is." Morgan sighs.

"Yeah that's fine…we don't have to leave straight away…" Rick agrees.

"Alright. Well…thank you for wanting to help us…" Morgan says.

"No, thank you for helping me…" Rick replies.

"Alright, I'll see you in the morning…goodnight." Morgan says and walks to his bed.

"Goodnight…" Rick sighs.

 _So I didn't end up getting to the police station right away, I met a man and his son along the way. They took me in, gave me shelter, water and food. I'm very grateful. As they had told me what had happened I couldn't help but lay awake that night thinking "Lori…if you're out there I'm sorry and I love you and Carl so much…" I just couldn't bring myself to admit that something had happened to them. But that doesn't mean I'm not gonna try and find them…I gotta admit when Morgan told me I was in a comma for two months, I didn't believe him at all…it didn't feel like that long at all…I still wasn't sure I mean the guy could have been exaggerating maybe just a little…but I don't know what to believe, I mean I awoken into a world full of the dead so anything was possible I guess…_

The next morning, Rick awoken to the fresh smell of bacon and eggs. "Morning…" Morgan greets him.

"Morning…" Rick mutters. Rick sits beside Duane at the table. Morgan gives Rick a plate with some eggs and bacon. "Wow, this smells good…I haven't had a decent meal in…what feels like forever…" Rick laughs.

"Well don't get too used to it…this is our last carton of eggs at the moment…" Morgan replies.

"What!" Duane says with worry.

"Now don't you worry son, we have other food…" Morgan explains.

"Tried raiding the store?" Rick asks.

"How do you think we've been surviving for the past two months?" Morgan laughs sarcastically.

"Right…forgot about that…" Rick says.

"So what's the plan sheriff?" Morgan asks and sits across from Rick.

"I'm not the sheriff…" Rick laughs.

"Well you might as well be, the old sheriff is gone…he was one of the first to be turned into one of them…" Morgan explains.

"John?…He's…one of them…" Rick sighs with sadness, as he was a good friend of sheriff.

"Sorry…" Morgan comforts him.

"So, will you do it?" Duane asks.

"Do I have a choice?" Rick mutters.

"You do have a choice! Yes it may be pointless nowadays or a stupid idea because of what has happened to the town and everywhere else but you have the plan, you are gonna help protect my son and get us some weapons…I say you're a leader…whether I wanna admit that or not I think you would be a better protector than me…" Morgan explains.

"Well then…look out walkers there's a new sheriff in town." Rick smiles sarcastically. Duane and Morgan laugh.

At the police station, Rick enters looking for any other living people. It's empty. No one in sight. He starts looking around when hearing a sound in the office. It was the radio.

It was a poor signal but Rick could just sort of understand what it was saying. "The CDC has been researching the cure, all the information we have for now is that regular city checks are in place…" the radio then cuts out completely. Rick thought that the city might be the place to start.

Rick walks back out the front of the station and brings Morgan and Duane in to the hot water showers. After they have a shower, they are all in good moods, Rick is now back in uniform and Morgan and Duane are thankful to Rick.

"Thanks Rick!" Duane smiles.

"Yeah thank you…" Morgan adds.

"It's a pleasure…now come on, I'll take you to the weapon chamber." Rick explains as Morgan and Duane follow him to the weapon chamber.

"Wow…now this is what I'm talkin bout!" Morgan shouts with excitement at the sight of all the weapons and armour.

"That's a lot of guns…" Duane gasps.

"We take what we need for now…" Rick insists.

"Why not take it all?" Duane asks.

"Because…if there are any other survivors out there they might come looking for protection here…everyone deserves the chance to defend themselves." Rick replies.

They then suddenly hear a loud bang and loud screams coming from outside. They rush out of the station to see a car has blown up and four survivors. "Stay here…" Rick insists as he walks over to the four people. "You people okay?" Rick asks.

"Oh officer, please you need to help us! Can you help us?" The first lady asks with relief.

"What happened here?" Rick asks.

"The motor in our vehicle blew up…" the second woman says.

"Right…so anyone hurt?" Rick asks.

"Are you really a cop?" the man asks.

"Yeah I am…" Rick replies.

"Really? Then why haven't you guys done anything about this mess?" the man demands.

"Hey! Robbie, shut up!" The second woman says.

"Wait here…" Rick insists. Rick walks over to Morgan and Duane. "These people don't seem hurt…" Rick explains.

"Are they bit? The bites are what spreads it!" Duane says.

"No, they are fine…" Rick replies.

"What are we gonna do?" Morgan asks.

"We can't leave them by themselves…can we bring them back to your place Morgan? That's your call…" Rick asks.

"Look Rick, I don't want no trouble or anything in my house…but with you being the leader here, you need to make sure they are respectful, not dangerous or put my son in danger…so you think about that and that's your call…" Morgan sighs. Rick pauses and thinks.

Rick then walks back to the group. "Come on…" he mutters indicating them to follow.

Suddenly group of walkers begin heading toward them. Morgan shoots them then throws Rick the gun. "Thanks." Rick says and they begin to head back to Morgan's home.

 _There's more, we found more…four more survivors… I didn't think it were possible but it's true…we brought them back to the house and we started talking about what we do next. I decided we should head to the city…but I needed to make sure the others agreed…_

That night at the house, the group were sitting around the dining table eating.

"Thank you for letting us stay here…both of you…thank you…" the first woman says.

"Don't thank me…thank Morgan…" Rick says.

"Well it means a lot…" the other woman says.

"What are your names?" Rick asks.

"I'm Edna…." the first lady reveals.

"I'm Renee, this is Ian and that's Robbie…" the second lady explains.

"So…Rick is it? Wanna explain to me why you and your police friends couldn't stop this?" Robbie asks.

"It's a disease! An illness! A sickness! Not a state of mind like some criminal! The police couldn't do anything to stop it! Besides…I wasn't here when it all started…I was in a comma… I was shot…" Rick explains.

"Sorry…" Edna mutters.

"Don't mind Robbie…he tries to be a tough guy but he's an ass…we all know it…" Renee adds.

"Fuck you! You tomboy! You don't know anything about me!" Robbie shouts.

"Enough!" Morgan shouts breaking up the argument. "In my house, you will show some respect! Young man, you are an ass…that's plain as day and I only just met you…but now, why don't you four tell us about yourselves…" Morgan insists.

The four new friends look at each other as to who should go first.

"I'll go…well I'm Renee, I'm 33 years old, I am in the military defence force and I also was in nurse training. I got separated from my swat team after our attacks weren't working on all those…things…" Renee reveals.

"Oh so now maybe we shouldn't be blaming the lazy police, we should be blaming the useless cadets!" Robbie jokes.

"Hey! That's enough!" Rick says in a firm voice scaring Robbie.

"Alright…it's cool…I'll go…" Robbie mutters. Rick nods. "Well…the name is Robbie…I'm 25 I work in tattoo designs and art…I was also in a band but they left me behind once the apocalypse happened." Robbie sighs.

"I'm sorry about that…" Rick says.

"What about you?" Morgan asks pointing to the other woman.

"Well I'm Edna, I'm 54, I'm from Florida, and I have three kids – two daughters and a son. I am a tailor and have my own business – well HAD my own business." Edna explains.

"Where are your kids? Your husband?" Rick asks.

"Well…I honestly do not know…but I pray to god that they are still out there and are okay…my girls were preparing to go on a road trip, I had the day off and my husband was with my son – but I don't know where they are now. When this apocalypse happened my house was severely damaged and my house fell down after a car ran through it. Luckily I got out and was saved by a few officers who risked their lives for me…and I'm sure once the girls saw the house and thought I was gone… my store was also overrun by those dead things…I saw them attacking my friends…" Edna sighs.

"I'm sorry…" Rick says and comforts her.

"What about you?" Morgan points to Ian.

"Well…I'm Ian…I'm 65 years old…I work with produce out on my brother's farm. My brother is a vet. Anyway, I drove into town to get some seeds but the highway was blocked off and then suddenly so many of them things were chasing my car and I found my way to this town and my car stopped working and I had to run from those things and so I hid in the post office until outside was clear then I met Renee…" Ian explains.

"Well sounds like you four haven't had an easy experience to still be here…" Rick mutters.

"Has anyone had an easy experience in this situation?" Robbie asks sarcastically.

"No, I guess not…" Rick replies.

"So what's the plan here? We gonna stay cooped up in here forever?" Robbie asks.

"No…we need to get to the city…hear me out, I have a plan. I heard that the city is having regular checks for survivors. So we need to ensure that we get to the city in time for one of their checks…" Rick explains.

"So what, you're the leader or boss of this group now?" Robbie asks. Rick nods.

"Yeah he is, you got a problem with that, you can leave…" Morgan insists.

"Alright…" Robbie backs down.

"Unless you gotta better idea?" Rick asks. Robbie shakes his head. "Right then…" Rick says.

"So when do we leave?" Renee asks.

Rick goes to answer but looks at Morgan, thinking of his wife. "Uh, well…we still should be safe here for a few days…" Rick mutters.

Suddenly the silence is interrupted by a smashing window. Followed by a loud bang.

"What's happening?" Duane cries. "

What do we do?" Edna shouts.

"Walkers…" Rick mutters.

"Rick, what do we do they're coming in!" Morgan shouts with worry.

"Stay together, try and kill as many as you can! Then we run into the back yard!" Rick explains as he then shoots a walker. But dozens and dozens more walkers enter the house.

The walkers overrun the house. Edna trips and a walker is about to bite her as she screams but Rick shoots it and saves her.

"You saved me! Thank you!" Edna gasps.

"Behind you!" Renee shouts and shoots a walker that was about to bite Rick.

Morgan gets Duane into the backyard followed by Edna and Robbie. Ian is then surrounded and stopped by at least six walkers and they bite his neck, his arm and his leg.

"Ian!" Renee cries.

"Come on let's get out of here!" Rick shouts.

As Rick and Renee join the group outside Morgan is staring at his wife in the distance heading toward them. Duane hugs his dad tightly. Rick notices this and approaches him to comfort him.

"Morgan…you don't have to do this…" Rick says.

Morgan has tear filed eyes and raises his gun.

"Dad…" Duane sobs.

Morgan aims up the shot. He is crying, as this is hard for him to do. "I'm sorry…I love you…" he sobs then pulls the trigger.

 _That night I honestly didn't think we would all get out of there alive…we lost a man but we can't let that slow us down…I can't imagine how Morgan feels, I mean the guy shot his wife…it must have been really hard for him…I feel sorry for the guy…Anyway, with no walkers in the yard we found our way to a safe looking spot under the town bridge, well at least for now it seemed safe…_

Rick and the group have made their way to the town bridge where they decide to set camp beneath it by the old junkyard.

"You think we will be safe here?" Edna asks with worry.

"It looks secure enough…" Rick replies.

"I'll make us a fire…" Robbie suggests.

Morgan looks over and sees Duane sitting alone on an old tire. He joins him. "Hey son, you okay?" Morgan asks. Duane shrugs. "Duane, I know what just happened was hard…but you said yourself, it had to be done…she's in a better place now…" Morgan explains.

"I know…" Duane sighs.

"Maybe you should find a way to say goodbye…in your own little special way…" Morgan suggests.

"Like what?" Duane asks.

"Uh, I don't know…maybe a special memorial or something simple…" Morgan proposes.

"I think that could be a good idea…thanks dad…" Duane smiles.

As Robbie as created a fire, He sits near Edna as Morgan and Duane join them. Rick walks over to Renee, who is standing away from the group staring across the river.

"Hey, you okay?" Rick asks. Renee sniffles and clears her throat.

"Hi, uh…yeah I'm fine…it's just…Ian…" Renee sighs.

"I know…I'm sorry…" Rick mutters.

"It's not your fault…" Renee says.

"It kind of is…I could have done more to keep us all safe and save Ian, it didn't have to end like that…" Rick sighs.

"No, Rick you tried your best to keep us all safe and you got most of us out of there…" Renee explains.

"I tried…" Rick sighs.

"And that's all that matters…" Renee says. Rick hugs Renee for comfort and because Rick needed some comfort and affection of his own.

"You know, when I met Ian, I knew there was something about him that I liked…he seemed so sweet and caring. He became like a father to me. He risked himself so many times for me before we eventually found Edna and Robbie…" Renee explains.

"I bet he was a good man…" Rick says.

"He was…I just feel bad for his family…he said he has a brother and family out on a farm…" Renee sighs.

"Where's the farm?" Rick asks.

"I don't know the exact location…he just mentioned it's not far from the main highway. Ya know, I just bet they are worried about him and I just wish we could give them closure…" Renee explains.

"I don't know…I mean we gotta think of the group…we need to stay safe. I made a promise, to Morgan that I would keep him and Duane safe! But if there are others out there…" Rick begins to explain.

"No Rick! You're our leader! We need to do what you think is best, if there are other people…they are not our problem…but I would still love to help as many people as we can but if that means risking the lives of this group and breaking a promise you made…then it's not worth it." Renee cuts him off. Rick sighs and takes Renee's advice. He is a leader.

Renee and Rick shortly join the group around the fire. Shortly they are startled by the sound of footsteps. Rick stands up and grabs his gun, followed by Robbie, Morgan and Renee.

"Dad…" Duane gasps with fear.

"Stay with Edna…" Morgan whispers.

The four begin walking toward the sound but suddenly a couple emerges from the shadows. An elderly man and woman.

"Please don't hurt us, we don't want any trouble…" the man says with his hands up.

"We mean no harm…" the woman adds.

Rick and his friends continue pointing their weapons at the couple as Rick observes them both. The woman, she had a perm of white and was wearing a blue dress. The man, he was bald, had glasses, and was a bit chubby. Rick thought they seemed innocent enough.

"Okay…" Rick says and signals the others to lower their guns.

"Thank you! Thank you so much!" The woman says.

"What are your names?" Robbie asks.

"Oh I'm Ray and this is my wife, Linda…" The man explains.

"I'm Rick, I'm the leader of this group. This is Renee, Robbie, Morgan, Edna and Duane…" Rick explains directing the couple to join them and making introductions.

"Thank you for letting us join your group…" Linda says.

"It means a lot…we have been through a lot…" Ray adds.

"Yeah, we all have…" Robbie says sarcastically.

"Lose anyone?" Morgan asks.

"Well, our sons…we have two. Thomas and Wayne…We were driving in our RV and we crashed. It was just the three of us. Tom, Ray and I. We were going to pick Wayne up. He works at the arcade. And we never made it there and after the crash we lost Tom…he was impaled by a pole and the arcade was overrun by those…zombies!" Linda explains and starts to cry.

"We have been hiding in this old car and junk yard since the first night…we haven't seen any other normal people until now." Ray explains as Linda rests her head on his shoulder.

"Well your safe now…" Renee says.

"Okay guys, I have been thinking and I have a plan…" Rick begins as the others are silent and listen. "I'm gonna head into the city tomorrow…alone…" Rick mutters. The others gasp.

"What!" Morgan gasps.

"Are you crazy?" Edna gasps.

"Rick, you can't!" Morgan continues.

"Not alone, out there…" Linda gasps.

"You'd never make it!" Ray gasps.

"Rick no, you can't!" Renee sighs.

"No, you are right. I am a leader…I'm going alone. Hear me out, I'll keep a radio here and take one with me so when I know it's safe I'll call you guys and meet y'all halfway and bring you there…if not, well at least you know it's safer here…but if people find me, I will come back for you all, I promise." Rick explains.

The group is quiet. Worried if Rick will live or die. Hoping it works out.

"It's a crazy plan, but I like it…I am not complaining." Robbie jokes.

"Alright then, I leave in the mornin, for now let's just think positive and have an early night anyway." Rick sighs.

 _Yeah, I made a decision. Renee was right, I was leader and had to make all the right decisions to keep everyone safe. That's why I'm heading to the city alone…it was best for everyone…I just hope they didn't think it was a suicide wish or that I was planning to abandoned them and never come back because that wasn't the case. I just want to keep them safe and own up to this leadership…_

The following Morning, Rick is packing a few supplies for himself into one of the cars in the yard that still seems to work.

"Are you sure you wanna go alone, I could come with you…" Renee suggests with worry.

"No, besides me you're a leader too! They need you." Rick says.

"What about Morgan?" Renee asks with confusion.

"No, Morgan is…in a very fragile state of mind right now…I think it be best if you take care of things while I'm gone…" Rick suggests.

"Okay…I will…" Renee replies and kisses him on the cheek. "Promise me you will be careful!" Renee begs.

"I promise…" Rick blushes with determination.

Morgan and the others gather round as Rick is about to leave. "Now I want ya'll to know that I have left Renee and Morgan in charge…but I expect you will respect each other! I will be in contact and have my radio on at least for a few hours each day…if it's important keep trying until you reach me…" Rick explains.

"Be careful buddy…" Morgan sighs.

"I will…and I promise I will come back for you all…" Rick assures them.

Rick and Renee exchange a look of attraction as he gets into the car. "Ya'll stay safe!" Rick says as he drives away.

Renee stands alone as she watches him drive out of sight. The others gather back around the morning fire to stay warm.

Morgan walks over by the riverside where Duane is standing alone. "Hey buddy what are you doing?" Morgan asks.

"I made a special sort of candle that I have told all my wishes and prayers for, I made it last night. I found some scrap things lying around here so wanted to be creative, I wanted to release it once Rick was gone, I prayed for him too…prayed that he would be safe…all I need to do is light it…" Duane explains.

"That's a great thing of you to do, I'm so proud of you son…" Morgan smiles.

"Suppose you better light it then…" Renee smiles and approaches them from behind with a lighter.

Duane smiles as Renee lights the candle. "Do you wanna pray for anyone first?" Duane asks Renee.

Renee pauses and looks into the water. "Rick…" Renee sighs with worry under her breath. She looks back at Duane and shakes her head in denial to hide her worry and fear. "Rick will be okay, I just know it!" Renee smiles.

"Yeah he will…" Morgan replies. Duane smiles and releases the candle into the air as it floats across the sky into the distance.

 _So, off I drove…city here I come. A part of me wanted to believe Lori and Carl were there, someplace safe. As for my new group of friends, I'm not worried, I know Renee will take care of them till I get back and keep them inline…now all I gotta do is be thankful that I'm alive, I found a group…I'm not alone, all that was left to hope and pray that Lori and Carl were still out there but in case I was wrong I tried not to admit the worst case scenario painful truth…I just had to hope for the best, I had no idea what I was getting myself into…So I just gotta take it one day at a time…_


	2. Chapter 2: Not So Happy Campers

Chapter two: Not So Happy Campers

April 2nd,

Shane has called Lori and told her about Rick being shot and was in hospital. He told her he'd meet her at the school this afternoon and take her up to see him. Shane arrives at the school and approaches a worried Lori. "Hey…" Shane sighs.

"How is he?" Lori asks.

"He's in a coma…but there's a good chance he will pull through but only time will tell. I'm sorry…" Shane explains as Lori tears up.

The school bell rings and Lori worries on how she should tell Carl. "I don't know how to tell Carl…" Lori gasps.

"You don't have to tell him alone…" Shane sighs. Lori flashes him a quick smile in thankfulness.

Carl then walks out of the school and Lori spots him. Lori approaches him as Shane crouches preparing to hug Carl or comfort him once Lori told him. Shane watches in the distance as Lori has crouched in front of Carl and tells him about his father. He sees Carl crying, this results in Shane tearing up. Lori hugs Carl and walks him over to Shane. "Hey there, buddy…" Shane smiles.

"Is it true about my dad?" Carl cries.

"Yeah…but don't worry, he is going to be okay…" Shane explains.

"We don't know that!" Carl snaps.

"Carl! This isn't Shane's fault." Lori says. Carl puts his head down and sobs some more.

Lori and Shane exchanged a sad unsure look. "Hey Carl, would you like me to take you and your mom to see him?" Shane asks. Carl nods. Shane drives them to the hospital to see Rick.

At the hospital, they surround Rick as they watch him sleep. "Dad…can you hear me?" Carl sobs.

"Honey…" Lori mutters. Shane puts his hand on Lori's shoulder to comfort her as she cries at the sight of her husband in this state.

"Dad, please wake up! Please…" Carl cries.

"Carl…" Lori sighs. Carl begins crying more and hugs Shane and so does Lori.

"Hey…guys, it's gonna be okay…I'm sorry…I wish I could have done more to save him…" Shane mutters. Shane then crouches down to Carl and says "Your dad is a fighter, he will pull through…I promise…"

Carl stops crying and nods.

"Thank you for being here for me, for us…" Lori mutters, clearing her throat.

"Of course…anything you need, I'm here…" Shane nods. Lori smiles. "In fact, I'll probably come up a bit later and bring him some flowers…" Shane laughs. Shane then soon takes them home.

Once Lori and Carl are home, Lori starts preparing dinner and has a glass of wine. She puts on the radio as she starts chopping and dicing some vegetables. The music is interrupted by a message –

"We interrupt this broadcast for an important headline. We warn all residents in Atlanta and surrounding areas to evacuate. What started as a sickness is now..." Lori changes to a different station and listens to music, ignoring the important warning.

Carl then walks into the kitchen. "Mom…" he mutters.

"What?" Lori asks.

"Will dad really be okay?" Carl asks.

"I honestly do not know…maybe not…" Lori sighs.

"But Shane promised!" Carl replies.

"You're right…yes, Shane did promise. Then yes, your dad will be fine!" Lori smiles with denial, she believes her husband won't make it.

A few hours later, Carl is asleep and Lori sits alone drinking wine at the table, staring at a picture of Rick.

Meanwhile, Shane has gone up to the hospital to visit Rick again and bring him some flowers. He stands beside the bed, staring at Rick. "I brought you some flowers man…come on man, please wake up if you can hear me…we need you here, your wife needs you, Carl needs you, I need you man!" Shane mutters placing the flowers beside Rick's bedside. Shane sits silently beside the bed watching Rick sleep. Shane eventually drifts off into a sleep.

Shortly after, Shane is awakened by the sound of smashing and yelling. He looks in the hall and sees the army squad shooting people in the head. Shane is scared and confused. He hides over the side of Rick's bed as the men look into Rick's room checking for any living people, then they leave. Shane tries to lift Rick so he can carry him out and save him but he needs the IV life support drip. Shane grunts with frustration and worry he doesn't wanna leave Rick here to die. Shane sneaks into the hall, luckily he is safe and the army men are gone. But suddenly down the other end of the hall behind him he sees a group of staggering walkers heading toward him. He quickly gets a spare patients bed and sits it in front of Rick's room so none of them can get in. Shane rushes to the exit and as he turns back he sees the walkers surround the bed protecting Rick's door. "No!" Shane shouts but rushes outside to his car.

Shane rushes to Lori's house. The loud rapid knocking on the door startles Lori. She opens it. "Shane, what is it? What's wrong?" Lori asks.

"We need to leave town now!" Shane demands.

"Why? What's going on?" Lori asks.

"I was visiting Rick and then army men were shooting innocent people and there were like…" Shane begins but stops with confusion.

"What?" Lori asks.

"Like…zombies…dead people…I know it sounds crazy but then on my way over here I heard it on the radio, a disease and bites by these zombies and we need to get to the city and they have rescue teams there." Shane explains.

"Zombies?" Lori laughs sarcastically.

"Lori I'm not fucking jokin!" Shane shouts.

"Wait…I think I heard something about it on the radio earlier but I…changed it…" Lori mutters with realisation.

"Come on! Get ya things we need to go! I'm gonna run to my place and pack and I'll be back in ten minutes!" Shane insists. Lori is shocked. "Wait…I want to see him once more…" Lori sighs.

"Lori, we can't! There's people getting shot everywhere up there!" Shane assures her.

"Shane! I NEED to! There's gotta be some staff left, I just want to know what's gonna happen to him…" Lori cries.

"It looks bad. I think he's dead…" Shane sighs.

Lori's eyes fill with pain. She begins to sob. "I...I…need to see him, Shane…" she sobs.

"Alright. We'll make a quick stop, but we don't have much time. Now hurry get ready! I'll be back soon!" Shane demands.

Lori rushes upstairs and packs. Clothes, photos, some food and water. She also packs Carls suitcase. Lori then wakes Carl up. "Carl…Carl wake up!" Lori mutters.

"What is it? Is it dad?" Carl asks with worry.

"No honey, we need to leave…" Lori says.

"Why?" Carl asks with confusion.

"No don't worry I'll tell you later, come on we need to go!" Lori demands.

Later, after seeing Rick one last time they begin to leave town.

On the highway, Shane, Lori and Carl are in Shane's car caught in a traffic jam. "Come on!" Shane shouts.

"What are we gonna do? We are never gonna get out of here at this rate…" Lori sighs.

Traffic then starts moving again but Shane's car breaks down. "Shit! Are you fuckin kidding me?" Shane shouts with anger. Shane gets out and moves to the front of the car where he kicks it and loses his temper.

Suddenly an RV pulls in beside them. A man gets out and approaches them. "You okay sir?" the man asks.

"No, I'm not fuckin okay, we need to leave but my car just stopped working…" Shane grunts.

"Well I'd be happy to give you and your wife a ride. Oh and your son too of course…" the man offers.

Shane laughs. "They're not mine…it's my best friend's wife and son, he's…dead…" Shane explains.

"Oh my, I'm sorry…I'm Dale and you are?" The man sighs.

"I'm Shane, this is Lori and Carl." Shane explains as Lori and Carl exit the car and join him.

"Hi what's goin on?" Lori asks.

"This is Dale, Dale this is Lori…" Shane says.

"I was just offering to give you folks a ride, I picked up two other girls earlier, and I've got room for more…" Dale explains.

"Thank you, so much!" Lori smiles.

"It's a pleasure, now come on in. Get your stuff…" Dale smiles back.

Shane, Lori and Carl get their bags and join Dale in his RV where they meet two more girls, Amy and Andrea.

"Hi…" Lori says.

"Howdy…" Shane adds.

"Hi, I'm Andrea and this is my sister Amy…" the eldest girl, Andrea explains.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Lori, this is Shane and my son, Carl…" Lori replies.

"Hi." Amy smiles.

Meanwhile on a motorcycle, two redneck brothers, Merle and Daryl, wait impatiently for the traffic to clear. "Come on, little brother just go around them!" Merle insists.

"I can't break the road rules…" Daryl mutters.

"Oh, since when do you care bout them rules? Come on little brother, don't be a pussy! Go around them!" Merle shouts.

"Shut it Merle! This is my bike and I ain't gonna let you or anyone else boss me around!" Daryl shouts back.

"Oh really? Well you let mom boss you around! You're her little angel!" Merle teases.

"Fuck you!" Daryl snaps.

Merle chuckles. "I'm just sayin boy, it seems like you ain't got no balls at all!" Merle laughs.

"I'm just scared!" Daryl admits.

"Scared!" Merle laughs, mocking him. Daryl grunts. "Come on little brother be a man for once in your life and let's go off road and head down that track to the right! Come on, let's go! Come on! Come on!" Merle shouts. Daryl rolls his eyes and rides around the traffic and turns off to a dirt road.

"Where are they going?" Dale asks noticing the motorcycle going off the highway.

"Who cares, let's follow them, we need to get out of here and get somewhere private and safe!" Shane insists.

Dale then drives around the traffic to the dirt road too, followed by a van, a sports car, a pickup truck and a couple more cars.

Eventually the motorcycle stops up in the hills by an old quarry. Daryl and Merle then notice the following cars. "What the fuck do we have here?" Merle grunts.

"They must've followed us!" Daryl mutters and aims his crossbow at the cars.

"That's right little brother fight with a weapon, not with your hands like a real man!" Merle mocks him.

The RV stops and Dale and Shane get out and approach the rednecks. "Hi, we're sorry we followed you…we don't want any trouble…" Dale mutters.

"What do you want?" Merle grunts.

"We thought you'd lead us somewhere safe!" Shane replies.

"Really? Well this is our camp, we found it first!" Merle shouts.

"Come on, we can help you! We can make this place secure! From those…things!" Shane begs.

Lori and the others exit the RV and approach the group.

"Please…we won't be a problem or get in the way." Dale begs.

"This ain't gonna happen!" Merle grunts.

"Alright, you can stay and help us build a safe and secure camp…any trouble and you're gone." Daryl interrupts.

"Thank you!" Dale smiles.

"What the hell is wrong with you boy? We can't let them stay with us!" Merle shouts.

"Just give them a chance…" Daryl sighs.

"Alright you ball-less pussy!" Merle laughs.

"It's just a few people…" Daryl explains.

"Oh yeah, what about them!" Merle mutters and points to the following vehicles as they stop beside the RV. A woman with short hair, a little girl and a tall man exit the van.

"Who are ya'll?" Merle shouts. "I'm Ed, this is ma wife, Carol and our daughter Sophia…we saw ya'll go off road, thought you guys had a cabin or somewhere safe…" the man says.

"We are making a camp…" Shane mutters.

"A safe one, ya'll wanna stay, you all gotta pitch in and help secure the area and make it safe!" Daryl explains as more people exit the vehicles.

From the sports car exits a young Korean guy and an Asian man and woman.

From the pickup truck exits a big black dude, a black woman and another mysterious black woman.

From the next car, exits a skinny man with a beard and a woman in a red dress.

Finally from another car that also followed, exits a Spanish couple and their two children.

"Daryl! We can't keep all these people here!" Merle shouts.

"Don't worry bro, I got it under control!" Daryl says and raises his crossbow again. Merle smiles.

"Wait!" Merle stops Daryl from shooting anyone.

"I don't want you to kill em, but I don't think it will be easy getting rid of them so fine, they can stay…but you let them know we are in charge here. You the boss, little brother!" Merle mutters.

Daryl nods. "Come on now ya'll, set up ya tents and what not, then I wanna make a fire and get to know all ya'll names!" Daryl explains.

"I'll make the fire…" Shane offers.

"Why? You don't think me or my little brother can handle it?" Merle grunts.

"I was just offering…" Shane replies.

"Merle!" Daryl grunts.

Merle laughs then notices the big black man staring at him. "Well, lookie what we have here…what the hell you staring at nigga?" Merle grunts.

"Hey! That's enough!" Shane says and punches Merle.

"Is that your best shot?" Merle asks. As their fistfight continues Daryl tries to break it up.

"Stop! Merle take a walk!" Daryl demands.

Later that night, once all the tents are set, they sit around the fire. "I'm Daryl, ya'll gonna have to excuse my brother's behaviour…we aren't really used to people…" Daryl explains.

"We can see that!" the black guy grunts.

"Fuck you! You chocolate fucker!" Merle shouts.

"Merle!" Daryl shouts.

"What's your name anyway?" Merle asks the black guy.

"The name is Theodore but most people just call me T-Dog…" The black guy responds.

"T-Dog! Well what kinda tough guy name is that! Is it cause you a dog?" Merle laughs.

T-Dog clenches his fists but the black woman stops him. "I happen to like the name T-Dog, it's very cool…it's a better name than Merle…" the black woman says.

"Oh okay, this kitty has claws! What's your name little lady?" Merle mutters.

"Jaquita…but most people call me Jaqui." the black woman responds.

"Alright, what about the rest of ya'll names?" Merle asks.

"I'm Carlos and this is my wife Maria and our children Havier and Helena." The Spanish man says.

"Uh, hi…I'm Glenn…" the young Korean man says.

"Oh well howdy Glenn, you want some rice with that?" Merle laughs.

"I'm not Asian, I'm Korean!" Glenn corrects him.

"Same thing! Tomato-Tomatoe!" Merle laughs. "So these your parents?" Merle asks pointing to the Asian couple.

"No, I found them on the side of the road, they needed help…they lost their daughter…" Glenn explains.

"Oh so all you Asians stick together huh?" Merle mutters.

"I Leo and this my wife, Ling…" The Asian man stutters.

"I should have guessed!" Merle laughs.

"I'm Jim and this is my sister, Sally…" the bearded man says.

"Hi…" Sally, the woman in the red dress says.

"Well Sally…you lookin fine!" Merle smiles.

"Hey, that's ma sister you talkin to!" Jim grunts.

"Jim, its okay…" Sally mutters.

"No, it's not!" Jim replies. Merle laughs.

"Well I'm Shane, this is Lori and Carl…" Shane explains.

"I'm Dale…" Dale adds.

"And what's your name pretty lady? And yours blondie?" Merle asks, referring to Andrea and Amy.

"I'm Amy and this is my big sister Andrea…" Amy mutters politely.

"Oh sisters huh? Well, you're both very pretty!" Merle laughs.

"What about you, what's your name?" Daryl asks pointing to the mysterious, quiet black woman. The woman just stares into the fire not saying a word.

"Her name is Michonne…" Jaquita reveals.

"What? Doesn't she talk or something?" Merle laughs.

"She's been quiet ever since we picked her up…found her on the side of the road. All she said was thank you and hasn't said a word since." T-Dog explains.

"Well that's a little rude ain't it? Can't even socialize with the people who saved your negress ass!" Merle says.

"I don't think it matters, let's discuss something else. Like, the fact the world is being taken over by those things!" Shane replies.

"Yeah well we are here now and that's all that matters…" Dale adds.

"Tomorrow we should come up with a roster, certain people take shifts doing certain tasks…like a system." Andrea suggests.

"It would be more organised that way, not a bad idea at all…" Carol agrees with a smile but then is given a mean look from her husband. "Sorry…" Carol whispers.

"Shane, what about the city? Atlanta, shouldn't we still be heading there for the evacuations and the CDC control and safety. If we stay here in the middle of nowhere we have targets on our backs…" Lori mutters with worry.

"Nah, the city has already lost power. It's been almost over run by those walking dead things" Jaqui says.

"How do you know?" Shane asks.

"We've been there." She replies.

"Ya know it's only a matter of time before those monsters find us…" Merle says.

"We need to somehow make a barrier, a wall around the camp to keep us safe…" T-Dog suggests.

"Nah, we're surrounded by plenty of trees up here, I think we should be okay…" Daryl replies.

"I still think building a little protection wouldn't hurt…" Shane says.

"Fine, then I guess you won't mind being in charge of that then…" Daryl replies.

"I'll help ya." T-Dog says.

"Right then, I say the old guy, and the two Asian men collect fire wood. Then the Asian woman, the quiet shy girl and Jaquita can help set up the camp a little better same with the lady with short hair and the hot one…" Merle explains – referring to Carol and Lori.

"I'd rather you call me by my name, thank you!" Lori replies.

"Ooh sorry, Lori and…" Merle begins pointing to Carol.

"Uh, Carol…" Carol says.

"Right, Lori and Carol…" Merle mutters.

"I'll help with the wall too…" Carlos replies.

"I can look after the children…" Sally suggests.

"It's true, she is a teacher." Jim adds.

"And what do you two plan to do?" Dale asks referring to Merle and Daryl.

"Me and my little brother here will hunt for food!" Merle explains.

"Jim, why don't you be on watch and make sure we don't get company." Daryl suggests. Jim nods.

That night, the campers went to bed cautious of these new strangers. Would they eventually call them their friends and would they settle in and get along? As they each lay in their bed thinking about how awful the day has been. They send their prayers and wishes to their friends and loved ones out there hoping for the best.

The following morning, the campers are woken up at dawn by Merle, who uses a large boulder as his pedestal and he shouts "Rise and shine, campers!" The tired campers slowly awaken and wonder what's going on. "That's it. Come on wake up!" Merle continues.

"Hey yo! What the hell you doin? Waking us at this early in the morning!" T-Dog grunts.

"Seriously, the sun is only just risin…" Lori mutters.

"What's the deal?" Ed asks with anger. The campers bicker.

"Perhaps you didn't all hear me last night!" Merle shouts and rolls his eyes, shutting the campers up. "Now, let me make it perfectly clear. Listen and listen good cause I ain't gonna repeat myself!" Merle grunts. Daryl rolls his eyes wondering what his brother is gonna do next. "Alrighty then, now, I am in charge around here! My little brother and me! You will wake when we tell you to wake. You will do what you are told to do! It's that simple! If you talk back or cause any problems for my brother and I here, well…you'd best be on your way if that's the intention! Ya got that?" Merle shouts with a grin.

"Man, this is bullshit!" T-Dog shouts.

"It doesn't seem fair!" Dale adds.

"We need more rest for energy!" Jaquita also adds. Merle rolls his eyes.

"Do something, please." Lori whispers to Shane.

"Hey man! Look we have women and children here. I think you need a reality check and need to be more considerate. It's not very fair on all of us here." Shane explains.

"Well clearly none of ya'll have experience on the farm then. You will wake up at dawn and will not sleep or eat until your duties are done!" Merle grunts.

"Well clearly you haven't got much experience off the farm. Things are different here and now. So this all needs to stop! We agreed to our duties and doing our part but this isn't fair!" Shane mutters.

"Fair? Well let me tell you somethin else that's not fair. Neither is a black fella's asshole! So suck it up princess!" Merle replies with a chuckle.

"Merle, come on. We're done here!" Daryl interrupts.

"Alright, off ya'll go…" Merle smiles. The campers then make their way to have breakfast and do their duties.

"Mommy, I'm tired!" Sophia cries.

"I know sweetie I know." Carol whispers as she hugs her daughter.

"That ain't my problem little girl." Merle says. Sophia tears up and nods.

After breakfast the campers gather and discuss their jobs. "Alright then listen up." Daryl begins. "Carol, Lori, Maria, Amy and Ling, you ladies are in charge of laundry, cleaning and organizing the camp." Daryl explains as the girls nod. "T-Dog, Shane, Ed and Carlos, you guys are in charge of building our camp barrier or wall or whatever you wanna call it. Glenn, Jim, you two are in charge of being on the lookout for today." Daryl explains.

"And Sally, you can watch the little ones." Merle adds with a grin, raising his eyebrows at her. Sally smiles and nods.

"Leo, Michonne and uh, Jaquita, you work on building us a shelter." Daryl says.

"What about me?" Andrea asks.

"And me?" Dale adds.

"Well blondie, why don't you just sit around and look pretty!" Merle chuckles.

"I wanna help!" Andrea replies.

"Fine, you can go gather some firewood!" Merle grins. Andrea rolls her eyes.

"Don't you worry old man, I got a job for you too. You are gonna rest up on the top of your RV there and make sure you see everyone in sight and make sure they are doing their jobs. Don't worry we got binoculars, a newspaper and a radio so you don't get bored up there." Merle laughs.

"That's it?" Dale asks.

"Well yeah, we wouldn't want ya breaking ya hip on us now, would we?" Merle laughs again.

"Alright, my brother and I are heading out! If I see anyone slacking off when we get back…well, you'd best be saying your prayers." Daryl mutters and grabs his crossbow as he and Merle head into the woods. Then the campers split up and do their duties.

That night, thanks to Merle's new curfew rule, most of the campers were asleep. Lori, Shane and Carl were still awake sneaking some more food, as they are very hungry.

"Psst!" Carol whispers and signals Lori to come over. "Everything okay?" she asks Lori.

"Yeah, we were just trying to find some food. My son, he's starving, we both are." Lori sighs.

"Oh well, we have a few boxes of snacks in the van. I'd be happy to give you guys a box." Carol smiles politely.

"Could you? Oh that would be so wonderful, thank you. That's awfully kind." Lori says thankfully. Carol smiles and nods and heads to the back of the van to retrieve a box of snack bars but is stopped by Ed.

"What do you think you're doing?" Ed grunts.

"Their boy is hungry. Imagine if that was Sophia…" Carol tries to explain.

"I don't care! We don't know these people! We don't give away any of our stuff!" Ed warns her.

"Ed, it's just a box!" Carol begs.

"Carol, don't you make me beat on you!" Ed threatens. Carol tears up.

"I'm sorry…" she sighs silently to Lori.

"Get in the tent! Go on now…" Ed grunts. Carol nods. Lori looks worried and concerned about that situation.

"What you looking at lady?" Ed grunts.

"Nothing…I'm sorry." Lori mutters and returns to Carl and Shane.

Lori is hesitant whether or not to say anything about what she overheard and saw. "You alright?" Shane asks.

"Uh, yeah…" Lori sniffles.

"Carl, would you give your mother and me a minute…" Shane smiles. Carl nods and begins to head to his tent.

"I'll be there in a minute." Lori smiles.

"What's wrong?" Shane insists.

"Uh…Carol, I think I just witnessed her husband threatening her…" Lori whispers.

"What do you mean?" Shane asks.

"Shane, I think she's in an abusive relationship. She was just trying to be nice and he threatened her and yelled at her. Shane, he said to not make him beat her…" Lori gasps.

"Shit! That son of a bitch! But, there's nothing we can do now." Shane replies.

"But Shane! You used to be a cop, can't you do something?" Lori begs with concern.

"Lori, look I know that guy's an asshole. I can't do anything until I see it and I swear if he ever hits her in front of me, I'll kill him myself! No one should ever hit a lady." Shane mutters.

"I know, I just feel so bad for her. I mean it's awful no one should go through that Shane." Lori sighs.

"I know, hey, I know. It's okay…the best thing you can do is be there for her, be her friend, get to open up to you. The woman shouldn't have to go through it alone." Shane says.

"Yeah, you're right. Gosh, I just hope he doesn't beat that little girl. I know it's none of our business…but I couldn't live with myself if I just say by letting it happen." Lori continues.

"Hey, it's gonna be okay. Alright, Sophia has Carl and Carol has you. We're gonna help them. God, I just knew that guy was a problem." Shane mutters.

"Thank you. Shane, for everything you've done for us. For Carl and me. We wouldn't have had anyone else…we'd probably be dead if it wasn't for you." Lori smiles with a tear and hugs Shane.

"I'd never let that happen Lori, never." Shane says caressing her hair whilst hugging her warmly.

Roughly two weeks later, the camp is looking well and organized and the campers are slowly becoming more civil towards one another. On a nice sunny morning, the campers are all gathered around the fire. Suddenly they are startled by the sound of fast approaching engine noise. Shane and the men get their weapons ready but they cannot stop what is about to come crashing into their campground. It's a bus, a bus at full speed crashes into a tree just near their camp. "I'll go check it out." Shane insists.

"I'll come with." Glenn adds.

They approach the bus and are about to smash the door open but are startled when it opens to reveal an exhausted teenage boy. "Whoa, sorry dudes, first time driving a bus!" the teenager says.

"What the hell are you doin?" Shane asks, pointing his gun at the teen.

"Uh, well I saw the dirt road and saw smoke and thought there was a camp here and – whoa, looks like I was right." The teen says.

"You could have killed us, and yourself." Glenn replies.

"What's your name?" Shane asks.

"Oh sorry. Uh, I'm Landon." The teen smiles and holds out his hand to shake. Merle then walks over.

"Who the hell, shakes hands these days?" Merle laughs.

"Uh, real men do sir…" Landon mutters.

"Don't, you mouth off to me boy! I will cut you up!" Merle threatens.

"Whoa, it's cool I'm sorry." Landon gasps putting his hands up.

"Have you been bitten?" Shane asks.

"No…" Landon shakes his head.

"Step out here." Merle says. Landon isn't sure. "Come on! I ain't gonna bite ya!" Merle laughs. Landon steps out of the bus slowly.

"Anyone else in there?" Shane asks.

"Uh yeah, I picked up a few survivors around town. I also have some friends at the high school, they said they are gonna call me over the radio if they need my backup!" Landon explains.

"Come on out of there." Merle demands.

One by one at least a dozen more survivors exit the bus. Women, children, men and elders. "Wow, you saved all these people?" Glenn asks.

"Uh, yeah. I sure did." Landon smiles.

"Good man." Shane nods.

"Come on now everybody, it's all safe here. Make your way over to the fire and we will get to know each other and explain how things work around here." Merle directs as the people then make their way to the other campers.

"So uh, what was your name?" Landon asks.

"Shane…" Shane mutters and shakes Landon's hand.

"Hi, I'm Glenn!" Glenn smiles.

"I'm Merle, this here is my brother Daryl." Merle adds. They then join the group and make them feel welcome.

As more and more weeks pass and these weeks turn into a month, the group is more settled and used to the idea of their new way of living. Lori and Carol were doing laundry when approached by Shane. "Hey Lori, ya mind if I take Carl down to the waterhole and catch some frogs? Maybe splash around a bit?" Shane asks.

"Sure." Lori smiles. Shane winks at her.

"Mommy, can I go too?" Sophia asks. Carol looks over at Ed who is grumpy as usual staring at his girls whilst having a cigarette.

"Of course." Carol smiles bravely. Lori is surprised by Carol's bravery. Shane takes Sophia and Carl to the waterhole. Ed shakes his head at Carol with disgust and walks away.

"I'm so proud of you." Lori smiles.

"For what?" Carol asks.

"Not letting him effect your decisions." Lori mutters.

"Oh, well he'll get used to the idea. If not, I'll pay for it later…" Carol sighs.

"Carol don't talk like that." Lori says.

"I'm sorry. He just scares me sometimes ya know? I mean, I love him and he is my husband but…" Carol begins.

"But what?" Lori asks.

"Oh never mind." Carol smiles with denial.

"It sure is great, finally starting to settle down. Merle not so strict anymore…it's good. I could get use to this." Lori smiles.

"Well it's not an ideal lifestyle but I could get used to it too. I'm glad things are getting better and I think we all have Shane to thank for that. I think Merle should just hand over the throne already." Carol laughs. Lori pauses with a thought. "And it is just so great that our kids are getting along so well!" Carol smiles.

Lori snaps out of it. "Yeah, it's great." Lori smiles.

Meanwhile Dale is sitting on the roof of his RV listening to what's left of the broadcast system. "We are warning all survivors in the Atlanta area to make their way to the city, regular city checks will take place every few hours and the CDC is working and researching on finding a cure..." the radio says.

"This is just so sad, Dale, change the station please." Amy says. Dale then changes the station to the only station playing music. Sad music. Christian music.

"This is all we get…" Dale sighs with irritation. Amy shrugs.

"Turn that hella no good, churchy music off. My ears are gonna bleed!" Merle grunts.

"You know, maybe we could head to the city. It isn't a bad idea, we get there and wait for one of these city checks. They find us and we will be safe at last. I know I said it was bad. But if they are still broadcasting, we might have a chance." Jaquita says.

"Yeah it could work!" T-Dog adds.

"Absolutely not!" Merle grunts.

"Why not? We aren't the only ones! I mean we are gonna eventually run out of food and maybe even water here eventually." Amy says.

"That's not gonna be a problem little lady, not with my brother and uncle Merle around! We are not gonna stop hunting! It's summer time which means…" Merle begins. The campers looks at each other with confusion. "It's huntin season!" Merle grins.

"Hey Glenn, wanna do some fishin?" Landon asks.

"Uh, yeah sure." Glenn smiles and they head down to the waterhole.

Meanwhile Carlos and Maria have become good friends with Ling and Leo and they are sitting by the view talking. "So do you two have any children?" Carlos asks.

"Oh, no. Not anymore." Leo shakes his head with sadness.

"What happened?" Maria asks.

"Demi, our daughter Demi, she killed by those things." Ling cries.

"Yes and she was a singer, a good singer." Leo adds.

"The voice of an angel!" Ling smiles.

"I'm very sorry to hear that's she's gone…" Maria sighs.

"Si, I'm sure she was a lovely young lady." Carlos adds.

That afternoon, Lori insisted she would help Shane go pick mushrooms so he could show her which ones were good and which ones were poison. "So how do you tell?" Lori asks.

"Well, it's not hard but ya just gotta make sure you examine them and know what to look for…" Shane mutters.

"And what do you look for?" Lori asks.

"I'll show you what I mean when we find some." Shane smiles. Lori smiles back. "So how you holding up?" Shane asks.

"Yeah, good. I think Carl is adjusting nicely to the situation and I think this camp could be something. Both Carl and I could get used to, like a fresh start." Lori sighs.

"Good, I'm just glad you two are doing well. And yeah, starting fresh could be a good thing." Shane smiles.

"Shane, I think you should talk to Merle about becoming the leader of this group. I'm not the only person who agrees, even Carol said you should be our leader." Lori mutters. Shane laughs.

"You really think I could handle it?" Shane asks.

"Of course." Lori smiles.

"Alright, well we will see what happens." Shane smiles. Lori and Shane lock eye contact. Shane smiles. Lori bites her lip with temptation then she kisses him tenderly. Shane pulls away. Lori adjusts herself.

"What just happened? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…" Lori sighs with worry.

"Lori…" Shane mutters.

"No Shane, I shouldn't have done it. I'm sorry." Lori sighs and begins walking away.

"No. Come on, Lori wait!" Shane shouts but Lori is gone. Shane stands alone feeling stupid. "Dammit!" He grunts to himself.

As Lori walks back into the camp sniffling, trying to stop the crying, Dale has noticed this. "Lori, is everything alright?" Dale asks.

"Yeah Dale, where's Carl?" Lori asks.

"Are you sure? You don't look okay." Dale mutters.

"Dale, where is my son?" Lori asks avoiding his question. Dale looks at her with worry and disappointment.

"He's playing with Sophia, over by the big oak tree." Dale mutters. Lori nods and begins to head to Carl.

Carl and Sophia are chasing each other around the tree, laughing, like kids do. Sophia trips over. "Ow!" She grunts.

"Are you okay?" Carl asks with worry.

"Yeah…" Sophia mutters.

"Here, give me your hand." Carl says helping Sophia up. Sophia stands and dusts herself off.

"Thanks." She smiles.

"No problem." Carl smiles.

"This is such a beautiful tree." Sophia says.

"Yeah but it's missing something…" Carl replies.

"What?" Sophia asks.

"You'll see…" Carl says as he grabs a pointing stick and starts carving into the tree.

"What are you doing?" Sophia asks. Carl ignores her as he insists.

Moments later, "Okay, take a look." Carl smiles revealing his and Sophia's name carved into the tree.

"CARL AND SOPHIA FRIENDS FOREVER!" it reads.

"Aw wow! That's so cool! And so sweet!" Sophia giggles.

"I'm glad you like it." Carl smiles.

Suddenly they hear Lori calling in the distance. "Carl. Carl, come here sweetie." Lori calls.

"I better go see what she wants." Carl sighs.

"Okay." Sophia smiles then kisses his cheek. Carl blushes and smiles then heads to his mother.

Meanwhile, Shane has just made his way back to camp and Dale notices Shane's upsetting look. "Hey Dale! Dale!" Shane grunts.

"What?" Dale asks.

"Where's Lori?" Shane wonders.

"I don't know…" Dale lies wondering what happened between the two of them.

"Thanks…" Shane says sarcastically then walks away.

That night, after dinner, Shane followed Lori to her tent. "Can I speak to you?" he asks. Lori turns to him. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have pulled away…" he begins.

"No. I'm stupid. I'm sorry; I shouldn't have tried to…" she replies.

"No. I wanted you too. I'm stupid for pulling away. But I'm glad you kissed me." Shane reveals. Lori is silent, still feeling confused and ashamed. "Anyway, I'll let you get some sleep. But if there is anything, I mean anything, you need, let me know…" Shane sighs and goes to walk away but Lori grabs his arm and turns him back toward her. She looks into his eyes for a brief moment before kissing him. They kiss and she pulls him into her tent. She takes off his shirt and he kisses her neck and removes her tank top and they continue to kiss before having passionate sex for the first time.


	3. Chapter 3: The Lone Ranger

Chapter three: The Lone Ranger

Present Day,

 _It felt like I've been driving for the days. The highway was a maze full of cars. Right. Left. Around and around. Strangely enough there weren't many of those walkers around. As I was driving I couldn't stop thinking about Renee. Was it bad that I was thinking more about her than thinking of the safety of my family? It is bad. But part of me wanted to think long-term. If the world was had ended and I never found my family I didn't want to be alone and pass on an opportunity with a pretty woman like Renee. Her beautiful ginger hair, her dark brown eyes and her smile. Oh and that uniform, there is just something about a woman in a military uniform that does things to a man. It tickles their fancy. Makes them feel dominated by a woman, which isn't a bad thing. I felt bad for thinking about Renee in that way but it has been a long time and I've always been loyal and never thought about another woman until now…_

Rick is continuing to head toward the city but the car runs out of gas on a deserted Georgia highway. "Shit!" Rick grunts and slams the wheel. Rick reaches into the back seat and grabs the empty gas can and puts on his hat before getting out the car and begins to walk along the road until he finds the nearest gas station.

After walking for some time, Rick passes various overturned and damaged cars, as he gets closer to a gas station. Rick then notices that abandoned vehicles and tents ahead block the road up; the remnants of what must've been a makeshift campsite for survivors. Rick cautiously walks through the abandoned campsite and sees many various corpses and lots of garbage. He goes over to the station where he notices a handmade sign hanging on the door, which reads, "NO GAS!" Rick shakes his head. "God dammit!" he grunts and smashes the window. He then looks in the store to at least find some food but the shelves are empty.

 _There was nothing here. No one. My Renee thoughts faded as I began to fear this eerie feeling. Being alone in the middle of nowhere. I didn't want to panic I just couldn't shake the feeling like things were about to get intense. My goal was to get to Atlanta but something was pulling me back. Was it my fear or was it my feeling for Renee?_

As Rick continues to search the area, he hears something and ducks down behind a car, as he glares under the car he trembles with worry, glimpsing at the slippered feet of a little girl on the other side of a car as she picks up a teddy bear off the ground. He stands up, walks closer, "Little girl, are you okay?" he calls as he continues to walk toward her. "Little girl." He mutters and the girl stops. Rick continues to approach the girl with his hand out until slowly she turns around to face him. Her lips and right cheek have been torn away, exposing raw teeth and muscle. Rick's face falls as she stares toward him, growling. She begins to approach him, faster and faster as he steps backwards and he reaches for his belt. He then draws his .357 Colt Python revolver and shoots her in the head. Rick tears up as it was hard for him to shoot a child but he knew, deep inside, it had to be done.

 _This is a cruel world. A very cruel world. I never wanted to hurt a child. What has the world come to? A stupid rhetorical question, yes, but seriously. This gruesome reality is still taking a toll on me and it will take me a while to adjust – if I ever adjust. I started to head back to the car and rethink my plan. I focused on the goal – get to the city, but how would I get there without gas?_

Rick returns to his car, he lays his head on the steering wheel feeling screwed. He has no gas and no idea what to do. Rick reaches for his radio to let the others know he is coming back but pauses. He realizes he never attempted to try the built in CB radio in the cruiser. He turns it on and sends out a broadcast. "Hello. Is there anybody out there? Hello. Anybody." He announces. But hears nothing but static.

Meanwhile at a camp outside the city at a quarry – the same camp as Shane and the others – an old man – Dale, is perched atop of his RV with a pair of binoculars, the group of survivors receives the transmission. Amy rushes to the CB, "Hello? Hello! Can you hear me? We have a camp just off the highway." She tries to reply but can't get the reply through as there is nothing but static. Shane, Lori, and Carl are among them, but they don't recognize Rick's voice over the garbled transmission. "Shane! I heard a voice, there was a man trying to contact us!", Amy gasps.

Shane grabs the CB. "Hello? This is Officer Shane Walsh. Do you copy?" Shane mutters but by the time Shane takes over the CB controls and introduces himself Rick has left the emergency broadcast channel.

Lori approaches Shane. "Anything?" she asks.

Shane shakes his head. "I think we lost him." Shane sighs.

"Well, I've been saying for weeks now that we should put signs up on the highway warning people away from the city, I'll do it myself if I have to." Lori says.

"No. Venturing out like that, alone, is too risky! We need to stay safe." Shane argues. Lori walks off, fuming, and Shane goes after her. "You can be pissed at me all you want; it's not gonna change anything," he tells her.

Inside Lori's tent, Shane catches up, he tells her "You can't run off half-cocked. You need to keep it together for Carl. He has lost so much already. Lori, you're strong. I need you to stay strong for me. Look how far we've come." He sighs. Lori agrees and nods. They kiss passionately before Carl interrupts them, near-busting them. Lori rushes over to Carl and hugs him.

"Mommy, are you leaving?" Carl asks.

"Honey, I promise I'm not going anywhere. Okay, I promise. I'm just stressed that's all. Now go on, go finish your chores." She sighs. Carl runs off smiling.

Meanwhile, Rick slams the CB radio with frustration. He gets out and puts on his hat and grabs his bag of guns and supplies, the radio and the photo of his family he keeps in the car. Rick abandons his car on the highway and heads out on foot with his supplies.

 _I'm starting to doubt that there is anyone else out there. It seems impossible after the day I've had. I was torn between turning back and returning to Renee and Morgan or to continue my journey to the city. I was weak for having these thoughts but I just don't feel whole. I keep asking myself what to do. I paused. I sat down. Had a long think. I'm going to soldier on. Not for myself. But because Renee would never let me give up._

Rick eventually approaches a farmhouse looking for gas or an alternate vehicle. He approaches the house and looks in the window where he makes the grisly discovery that a man had shot his wife and then committed suicide. "GOD FORGIVE US" is written in blood on the wall. Rick backs away and tries not to gag. Rick then spots a pickup truck. Rick tries to locate the keys, but instead finds a horse on their property. Rick is hesitant but decides to take a chance. It's his only shot. He saddles up and rides the rest of the way to Atlanta City.

 _Like a lone ranger I rode off into the heat of the day and continued my quest to the city of Atlanta…who knew what the city would bring me…_

As Rick gets closer to the city he passes hundreds of burned out cars trying to leave the city that have stalled out on the other side of the freeway, and the road into the city is completely deserted.

Rick arrives in Atlanta but it's nothing like Morgan described it. It's not well protected, it's not safe, it doesn't have the help he'd hoped for. Rick rides slowly down the main street looking at the devastating surrounding of what's left of Atlanta. He searches the streets on horseback, finding an overrun military blockade and more burned out vehicles. Two ravens peck at a dead animal on the street.

As he passes through he unknowingly awakens a few walkers along the way, so he and his horse speed up to a trot as he looks back to see them emerging from buses and alleys. Rick remains calms as he rides down the next street and loses site of the walkers. Rick gets of the horse and ties it to a street pole, leaving the horse vulnerable to the walkers. Rick cautiously looks around and approaches an office building and goes inside.

Inside the building, Rick slowly explores the ground floor. He enters the hall and sees a trail of blood. Rick prepares to grab his revolver as he follows the trail to a door. He slowly opens the door and grabs his gun and prepares to shoot.

Inside the store cupboard is a blonde woman, holding her blood-covered son. The woman screams. "Please don't shoot me." The woman cries.

"What happened to you?" Rick asks.

"It's not me…it's my son. We were waiting for the rescue chopper but one of those things grabbed my son and bit his arm. I managed to fight it off and I carried him in here." The woman explains.

"How's he doing?" Rick asks.

"He's been unconscious for a while now. But I'm hanging on to hope." She sobs.

"Hope?" Rick mutters.

"Yeah." She nods.

"You know what I think about hope? It breeds eternal misery." Rick sighs.

"You shouldn't think like that." She says. Rick is silent and doesn't respond. "I'm Julie by the way. What's your name?" she asks.

"I'm Rick, Rick Grimes." He replies.

"What are we going to do, Rick?" she sighs.

"Do you know what you need to do? Because you need to leave soon, before you get bit." Rick says.

"What are you talking about?" she asks.

"He's gonna turn. We don't have much time…" he sighs.

"What?" she gasps.

"Your son! He's gonna turn!" Rick grunts. Julie cries. Rick comforts her. "I'm sorry but I don't want to die today okay, I'm scared and we need to leave." He sighs as he crouches beside her. "You seem like a strong lady. You know what you need to do…" he continues.

Julie continues to sob. "Will you do it?" Julie cries. Rick doesn't respond – shocked she would ask him that. "Please." She sobs. Rick tears up as he nods.

Rick stands up and walks into the hall to give her one last moment with her son. Julie remains and holds her son and kisses him. "I love you. I love you so much. I love you so much buddy. Go to grandma and tell her I love her. I love you." She cries and kisses her sons forehead. She gets up and joins Rick in the hall and she hugs him and cries.

"Are you sure you want me to be the one to do this?" he asks. She nods as the tears stream down her face.

"Yes. But I can't be here." She sobs. She begins to walk away. "I'll wait outside for you." She sobs and leaves.

Rick takes a deep breath and stands in the doorway, staring at the blood-covered boy. His eyes fill with tears. Rick raises his revolver and lines up the shot. "I'm sorry buddy." He mutters and shoots the boy in the head. Rick then kicks the wall and takes a moment to pull himself together, hurt from having to kill another child.

 _Another child. It was easier this time but it doesn't make it okay. I know it had to be done. The adjustment period is just going to take some time because I don't think anyone would want to adjust and get used to this lifestyle. But I guess I might have to get used to it._

Moments later, Rick heads back into the room he came in. Julie isn't in there. He thinks Julie must be waiting outside. Rick exits the office building and sees Julie sobbing and patting his horse. "Julie." He sighs. Julie turns to him and sobs.

Rick begins to walk toward her but pauses as Rick hears a helicopter pass overhead. He goes to get on the horse and so does Julie but the horse gets a fright and kicks Julie and she is launched across the street and is impaled by a fence.

"No!" Rick cries. He goes over to Julie's body and closes her eyes. "I'm sorry." He cries. Rick then gets on the horse and begins to follow the sound of the chopper. He catches the reflection on the chopper in a windowed skyscraper. He tries to follow it, but leads himself and the horse straight into a horde of hundreds of walkers.

The undead swarm them, toppling him as the walkers devour the horse.

While the walkers are distracted, Rick scrambles underneath an abandoned military tank, but more walkers come after him and grab at him from both ends. Rick manages to shoot several of them, but more just keep coming. In desperation, he places the gun to his temple. "Lori, Carl, I'm sorry," he says, preparing to take the easy way out — but looking up, he sees an open hatch underneath the tank and crawls inside just in time.

Once inside, he catches his breath and takes the gun off a zombified soldier that appears dead inside the tank. But the movement awakens him, and the soldier turns to bite Rick. Terrified, Rick shoots, and a deafening echo reverberates inside the repressed air of the tank. Disoriented, he notices that the top hatch of the tank is open. He claws his way to the top and lifts his head out to stop the ringing in his ears. He spots his bag of guns and supplies, but walkers see him. They begin climbing the tank to get at him, but Rick seals himself inside, with no idea what he'll do next. Walkers bang on the hatch, unable to get in, while others still devour the horse.

 _I was trapped. I just had no plan. I didn't know what else to do. I was about to finally end this nightmare…_

Rick holds the soldier's 9mm Beretta 92FS pistol to his forehead, sweating. He takes a deep breath preparing to pull the trigger but the tank's radio crackles.

"Hey you, dumbass," a voice says. "You in the tank. Cozy in there?" a voice mutters.

Rick is confused and shocked but also surprised to know that someone on the radio can see him. As Rick remains in the tank, dozens more walkers surround it.


	4. Chapter 4: The Dirt On Our hands

Chapter four: The Dirt On Our Hands

At a picturesque rock quarry outside of Atlanta, Shane and the group of survivors have setup a camp among mountainous terrain. Enduring the hot, mid-day summer heat, members of the camp are busy with various tasks — from the roof of an RV, Dale watches the perimeter of the camp for signs of danger; Ed and Shane are fixing and servicing various things; Carol, Michonne and Maria are doing laundry and Landon, Lori and Andrea gathering supplies. Amy catches her breath as she dumps mushrooms from a bucket into a bowl held by Lori, who sits at a fire pit. Amy asks, "How do you tell if these mushrooms are poisonous?"

Lori grabs a handful of the mushrooms "There's only one sure way that I know of; which would be to eat one and see if you get sick." Lori replies.

Unsatisfied with that method, Amy replies, "Can you ask Shane when he gets back?"

Lori nods and accepts. "I'll be back." Lori sighs and she grabs the bucket and sets out to find more mushrooms in the forest. "Carl, stay here with Dale. I'll be back soon." She tells her son Carl, who's playing in the dirt, before she leaves.

"Yes, mom," says Carl.

Dale, carrying a gun and binoculars and wearing a fisherman's hat, tells Lori "Don't go too far, either." He begins. Lori turns and rolls her eyes and continues to head out. "If you see anything, holler. I'll come runnin'," he adds as Amy catches Lori's reply under her breath:

"Yes, mom." She mutters.

Lori heads into the forest alone, unnerved by the sounds of snapping branches and moving bushes, while she bends down to search for more mushrooms. The sounds intensify and Lori looks around fearfully, treading carefully through the dense forest. A pair of hands grabs Lori from behind, covering her mouth to keep her from screaming. Lori struggles to turn toward her attacker, and is relieved upon realizing that the person restraining her is actually Shane, who's been waiting for Lori to make her way into the forest where the two of them can be alone.

"What took you so long?" he laughs.

"Oh, Amy, "the mushroom queen" took forever to get back." Lori explains.

"How much time do we have?" Shane asks, kissing her.

"Enough," Lori replies, and the two begin to undress. Lori wears Rick's wedding ring on a locket around her neck, which she and Shane eye with a flash of guilt before she takes the locket off and the two have sex.

At the camp, Sophia walks over to Carl, who is playing with a few damaged toy soldiers. "Hey." Sophia smiles.

"Hey, wanna play?" Carl asks.

"Yes. But no this game." She replies.

"Okay. What do you have in mind?" he asks.

Sophia smiles and taps him. "You're it!" she shouts and runs. Carl gets up and laughs as he chases after her. The two chase each other around the campground and around their friendship tree. Until they run into the woods out of sight for Dale, who is distracted talking to Amy.

Carl chases Sophia, running out of breath and Sophia trips on a branch. Carl rushes over and lifts her up. "Now I'm all dirty." Sophia sighs.

"It's okay. I'm dirty too. I guess that means we are both covered in dirt." Carl laughs. Sophia smiles.

Suddenly, a walker quickly approaches them from behind and grabs Sophia's leg. Sophia screams. "No!" Carl shouts. Carl grabs a tree branch and hits the walker's head repeatedly as he shouts and tries to save his friend. Sophia continues to scream.

Dale and Amy finally hear the faint scream in the distance and they grab their guns and run into the forest.

Carl eventually sets Sophia free before the walker scratches Carl's cheek. "No! Help! Carl, come on!" she shouts.

Dale and Amy finally find them and Dale stabs the walker in the head and helps Carl as Amy tends to Sophia.

"Are you okay?" Amy gasps.

"What the heck happened? I thought I told you two knew to stay in sight. Your mother told you not to leave camp, Carl!" Dale grunts.

"I know. I'm sorry. We were just playing." Carl sobs.

"It's my fault. I'm sorry. But he…he saved my life, Dale." Sophia cries.

"It's alright. It's okay. You're a hero son. Now come on, lets head back and hope that you guys have learned not to go a wandering around on your own." Dale sighs and they begin walking back to camp.

When they arrive back, Carol rushes over. "Sophia! Sophia!" Carol cries and hugs her.

"Mommy!" Sophia replies.

"What happened? Are you okay?" Carol cries.

"I'm fine. We were just playing. Carl saved me." Sophia says. Carol looks at Carl and doesn't speak. Sophia puts her head down.

"I'm sorry mommy. We were just playing. Please don't be mad." Sophia sighs. Carol hugs Sophia and holds her tight.

"It's okay sweetie. It's okay." She cries.

Dale looks down at Carl and pats him on the back. "C'mon son, let's go wait for your mom." He sighs.

Almost an hour later, Lori returns from the forest, with a guilty smile on her face. Carl and Dale sit on the roof of the RV and Carl smiles at the site of his mother. "Lori. I need a word." Dale says.

"Not now Dale, I'm exhausted. Carl, come on get down from there." She replies. Carl climbs down and she notices the cut on his cheek. "Oh my god, what happened?" she gasps and hugs him.

"I lost site of him. He and Sophia went playing in the woods. A walker found them but Amy and I got there in time." Dale says.

"Are you okay?" she asks.

"I'm fine. I had to save Sophia." Carl replies.

"It's true. He was a hero." Dale says.

"A hero, that's more than what I can say for you." Lori grunts.

"Lori, this isn't my fault…" Dale sighs.

"No? I asked you to watch him but somehow he and Sophia end up in the woods scared to death by a walker and my son was hurt. He could have been killed!" Lori shouts.

"I'm sorry Lori, I was distracted. Amy and I…" he begins.

"Amy! So you're blaming Amy for making you drop what you're supposed to be doing, which is keeping everyone here safe." She snarks.

"Carl and Sophia wandered out by themselves…they knew the risk." He replies.

"They are just children Dale! I asked you to do one thing for me and you know…you know what, just forget it." She sighs. "Come on buddy." she adds as she grabs Carl's hand and escorts him back to their tent. Dale remains, feeling bad and guilty.

Later that afternoon, after doing some hunting, Daryl Dixon returns to the camp. He approaches Dale. "I'm heading out again." He says.

"Already?" Dale asks.

"Yeah. I'm going out further this time. Probably be back late noon tomorrow. It's time I head west." Daryl explains.

"Are you sure? I mean you just got back. You really want to go alone?" Dale asks.

"I'll be fine alright. I'll be back before Merle and the others get back." He says – revealing a group of them, including his brother, must be out on a supply run.

"Well alright. Be careful." Dale says.

"I will." Daryl replies.

Meanwhile, through out the camp, the campers are completing their everyday chores. Maria and Carol are preparing dinner for the group whilst Sally minds Carl, Sophia, Helena, Havier and a few other children in the camp. Jim and Shane are working on a new shelter. Lori, Ling and Michonne are doing laundry. Leo, Amy, Ed, Landon and a few other campers are also completing their other chores around camp.

That night, Lori is sleeping and she awakens with a fright to see Shane standing at the door of her tent. She gasps. "What are you doing?" she gasps.

Shane enters the tent and approaches her. "Shhh…" he whispers and places his finger on her lips.

Lori sits up and she sucks Shanes finger. Shane leans in and kisses her, biting her bottom lip before pulling back. Lori removes her top and she pulls Shane on top of her. She pulls Shane's shirt over his head and pulls him closer as she drops her head back. Shane bites her neck before kissing his way down to her breasts and circles his tongue around her nipples before lightly biting them. Lori begins to moan. Shane covers her mouth and looks up at her before laughing. "Shhh…you'll wake up Carl." He whispers with a cheeky smile. Lori nods and she places her hand on her mouth as Shane continues to kiss his way down her body and makes his way to her waistline where he then pulls of Lori's shorts and panties and begins spreading her thighs before brushing his nose along her wet slit and then, taking two fingers he spreads her lips and inserts his tongue and licks her pussy. Lori moans and bites into her hand to try to silence her screams of pleasure. With her other hand she places it on Shane's head as she continues to moan. Shane then undoes his belt and unzips his pants before slapping his thick rock hard cock on her wet pussy. "You want it?" he grins.

"Yes. Fuck me, please!" Lori whispers. Shane smiles and slides his cock slowly inside of her before thrusting hard and deep as Lori continues to moan and squirm.

The next morning, Lori goes for a walk down to the waterhole and Carol joins her. "You look smiley this morning." Carol says.

"I do?" Lori asks, trying to hide her smile.

"Yeah…get a good sleep? Or…a good something…" Carol giggles.

"Carol!" Lori gasps.

"Oh please, you think I'm stupid. I've noticed. That thing with you and Shane. I get it. A woman needs to feel affection. We crave it. Gosh, I can't even remember the last time Ed and I… anyway, it's none of my business but are you sure it's a good idea to be getting involved with him?" Carol mutters.

"He saved my and my sons life, Carol." Lori replies.

"I understand that but…" Carol begins.

"You know, you were right, this is NONE of your business." Lori mutters and walks away. Carol giggles to herself and shrugs.

Lori returns to camp where Shane is poking the morning fire. Lori grabs Shane by the collar of his shirt and drags him into the woods.

"Lori? Lori what's going on?" Shane asks with confusion. Lori takes him into a private part of the woods where she then removes her shirt and begins to kiss him. "Alright then…" Shane smirks. Shane removes his clothes and lifts Lori up as she wraps her legs around him. He presses her up against a tree and begins to fuck her. Hard. Deep. Raw. Just the way Lori liked it. Lori dug her nails into Shane's back – marking her territory.

Shane continues to fuck her but begins to slow down, whilst staring at Lori's locket around her neck. "Wh…what's wrong? Why are you stopping?" Lori sighs with disappointment.

Shane continues to slowly fuck her. "Do you feel bad about this?" he mutters.

"No…" Lori replies.

"I do…I feel really bad." Shane confesses.

"If you felt bad, this never would have started. Now shut the fuck up, and fuck me!" Lori says.

"Ok." Shane replies and begins pounding Lori faster and harder than before. Lori moaned as his big thick cock penetrated her dripping wet pussy.

Meanwhile at the RV, Dale is watching in the distance as Jim is digging holes nearby. Dale climbs down off the roof of the RV and makes his way over to Jim. "Uh, Jim, what are you doing?" Dale asks.

"I'm preparing." Jim replies.

"For what?" Dale asks.

"I had a vision." Jim replies.

"A vision? What do you mean?" Dale asks with confusion.

"I saw it. In my head. Like a dream. We're going to get attacked. I don't remember when. I don't remember how. But something bad is going to happen, I can feel it. We won't be safe here forever, Dale. It's time." Jim explains.

"Time to what? Kill ourselves? Is that what you're getting at, Jim?" Dale gasps.

"If it comes to that." Jim replies.

"Snap out of it, Jim! You're acting crazy! I'm going to go get your sister." Dale says and returns to camp.

"Sally! Sally!" Dale calls as he returns.

"Yes?" Sally replies rushing over.

"Your brother is having a mental meltdown. He's digging holes. He's saying we are gonna die and need to kill ourselves now. He's gone completely insane!" Dale explains.

"Where is he? I'll go talk to him." Sally says.

"Over there." Dale directs her. Sally makes her way into the woods.

"Jim. Jim, what's going on?" she asks as she approaches her brother.

"Go away, Sal." Jim mutters.

"Jim, come on. Stop this." Sally says trying to remove the shovel from his hand.

"I said back off Sally!" Jim shouts.

"Jim…" Sally tears up.

"You know, I didn't mean to yell…but I am not crazy!" Jim says.

"I didn't say you were…" Sally cries.

"I'm sorry." Jim sighs and falls to the ground.

"Jim…" Sally cries as she goes over to him and holds her brother.

At the fire, Amy sits with Michonne, Carol, and Maria. "Everyone's quiet. Not surprised by you Michonne but the others…I mean seriously, I get being shy and hush-hush but we've been here for like, what? Two months now? Michonne talk to us. We're all friends here I guess." Carol sighs. Michonne remains silent.

"I miss my sister so much…I hope she's okay…" Amy sighs with worry.

"I miss my Carlos too…" Maria adds.

"They're gonna be fine. I'm sure of it." Carol smiles positively.

"Carol!" Ed grunts from his tent. Carol's smile fades as she looks at her husband.

"Yes, Ed?" she calls.

"Get in here!" he grunts.

"I'll be back." Carol says and nervously approaches the tent. "Yes?" she mutters as she reaches the door. Ed grabs her and pulls her inside.

"I said get in here!" he grunts.

"Ow! Ed! I'm sorry!" Carol gasps.

"Bitch, I told you not to socialize!" he mutters.

"Ed, I'm sorry. I was just being friendly." Carol says.

"Roll over. I'm going to be friendly too!" he mutters.

"What? No. Ed, please." Carol begs with fear as her eyes fill with tears. "Ed!" she begs. Ed slaps her hard across the face.

"Are you deaf? I said, roll over, now!" he orders. Carol shakes her head and cries.

Ed grabs her and forces her onto the mattress, face down, and he pulls her panties down before unbuckling his belt and his zipper. He spits in his hand and rubs it on his dick before pinning Carol's hands above her head and fucks her. "No! Ed! Ow! No!" Carol cries.

"Shut up! Take it!" Ed grunts. Carol cries and is left no choice but to take it from her husband.


	5. Chapter 5: A Messy Escape

Chapter five: a messy escape

Meanwhile back in Atlanta, sealed inside a military tank, Rick Grimes says over the CB radio: "Whoever you are, I don't mind telling you I'm a little concerned in here."

A young man's voice then replies, "You're completely surrounded by zombies. My advice to you would be making a run for it NOW, whilst most of them are sort of distracted by your horse!"

Rick wonders how he can escape. "Can you see my bag of guns anywhere out there?" Rick asks.

"Forget the bag, man! It's not an option!" the voice says.

Rick collects a grenade from the dead soldier and a metal bar from the floor of the tank, and pops through the top hatch. Most of the zombies are still distracted by the horse, but one is nearby and turns to Rick, reaching for him. Rick dispatches the zombie with his metal pipe, jumps off of the tank, and runs down a nearby sidewalk toward an alleyway, shooting zombies along the way. Quickly turning the corner, Rick is surprised by another human form – Glenn from the quarry camp, but Rick has his gun pointed at the man's face, ready to fire.

Equally surprised, the man exclaims "Whoa — not dead!" revealing himself to be the one talking to Rick earlier over the tank radio.

They race up a ladder to the roof, stopping to catch their breath on a platform halfway up. "Nice moves there, Clint Eastwood. Are you the new sheriff? Come riding in to clean up the town? I'm Glenn." The young man says in jest, introducing himself.

"I'm Rick. Rick Grimes. Thank you for saving my life. I was an officer but this uniform is the only clothes I have right now. We should keep moving." Rick replies.

As they walk across the roof, "So, why'd you stick your neck out for me back there?" Rick asks.

"Call it foolish naive hope that if I'm ever that far up shit creek, somebody would do the same for me. Guess that makes me an even bigger dumbass than you." Glenn replies. Glenn leads Rick down a staircase to an alley, which is free of all but four zombies thanks to a bus blockade.

When they reach street level, Glenn radios his group "Now!" he says, prompting two people wearing riot gear and brandishing baseball bats to emerge from the building and beat down the walkers. Rick and Glenn rush into the building, followed by the people in riot gear.

Inside, a woman later revealed to be Andrea, corners Rick and points a gun in his face, furious at his recklessness. "We're dead because of you." She tells him.

In response to the look of bewilderment on Rick's face, Carlos enlightens Rick on his mistake. "Your gunshots have attracted scores of walkers." Carlos says.

"You just rang the dinner bell" Andrea seethes, as the group's attention turns to a crowd of zombies outside that are slamming themselves against the outer set of glass-pane doors, furiously trying to gain entry. One of the zombies has a rock and bangs it heavily against the doors; a pane of glass begins to crack.

"Man, I didn't think they could do that." Rick says.

"There's a lot these things can do – you'd be surprised." Glenn replies.

"So what were you doing, roaming around the streets aimlessly, given the current circumstances?" Andrea asks.

"I was trying to flag down a helicopter." Rick tries to explain. The others laugh.

"Yeah right. Ain't anybody coming for us." Another woman, Jaqui says.

"I'm sorry, what's your name?" Rick asks.

"Jaquita, but you can call me Jaqui." Jaqui explains.

"I'm Rick. And I'm serious. There was a helicopter." Rick explains.

"It was just an hallucination." Jaqui says.

"I saw it!" Rick insists forcefully.

A man in the background, revealed to be T-Dog, is trying to make radio contact with the rest of his group at their camp, but fails to get a signal, wondering if they might have better luck on higher ground. "I got nothing. Maybe we should head upstairs." T-Dog says. Muffled gunshots are heard.

"Oh god, is that Dixon?" Andrea says in disbelief, as they all leave to investigate.

The group's suspicions are confirmed as they emerge onto the rooftop and find Merle Dixon firing at zombies in the street with a scoped rifle. Carlos and T-Dog chastise Merle for wasting bullets and attracting more walkers.

"What the fuck man! We need that ammo!" T-Dog grunts.

"Put the gun down, amigo." Carlos says.

Merle scoffs. "I ain't taking orders from a taco vendor and a nigger!" Merle mutters. This triggers a fight between Merle, T-Dog. Merle easily subdues T-Dog and presses a handgun to his forehead, before spitting on his chest and proposing a change in leadership. "Look, we all like that guy we have as our leader back home right? But what about me? I brought us all together. I made that camp. I volunteered to come out here on this run with you all." Merle says.

"Don't shoot me man!" T-Dog begs.

"Come on, when we get back to camp, I want shit to change! I want order restored!" Merle demands. Brandishing a gun and holding T-Dog hostage, the group is forced to vote in favour of Merle being their new leader.

Suddenly Rick intervenes, hitting Merle with the butt of the rifle and punching him in the face before handcuffing him to a pipe. "Things are different now. There's us, and the dead. We survive this by pulling together, not apart. Now, that is order being restored!" Rick tells Merle and he holds a gun to Merle's head to cool him down. Merle chuckles.

"You ain't gonna shoot me. You're a cop! Here piggy piggy!" Merle teases. Rick hits Merle again and crouches in front of him.

"All I am anymore is a man looking for his wife and son. Anyone who gets in the way of that is gonna lose." Rick replies and he finds a stash of cocaine in Merle's shirt pocket and tosses the canister over the roof — much to Merle's chagrin.

"Hey! That's my shit! You fucking pig! You're gonna regret that!" Merle grunts.

Rick approaches the others. "So what now?" Rick asks.

"There's no refugee centre, it was a pipe dream." Carlos says.

"We are part of a larger group. We came out on a run for supplies but walkers made it hard for us. And I can't seem to reach our camp on the radio. We gotta get back there." T-Dog explains.

Merle, still handcuffed to the pipe, insults Andrea, "Blondie, how about you at least make this experience seem a little more kinky and pleasurable for uncle Merle?" Merle chuckles. But Andrea stands her ground.

"How about you suck my dick!" Andrea mutters back and rolls her eyes.

"We're on our own. At least for now. You guys have a group and I wanna help get you all back there but with the streets no longer safe, we should try to escape underground." Rick explains.

"The sewers? No way." Andrea scoffs.

"It could work! I used to work in the Atlanta zoning office, so I know that the old building might have a flood tunnel that would provide access to the sewers. We could do this." Jaqui says. Prompting the group to head back downstairs to the basement. T-Dog stays behind to keep an eye on Merle, and to continue attempting to make contact with the rest of the group, at the quarry.

Moments later, Glenn, Rick, Andrea, Carlos, and Jaqui stand at the top of a ladder that descends below them, fading into darkness. The group exchange uncertain glances with one another, and then they all stare at Glenn. "What? Why me? I don't want to be first." Glenn says with worry. They continue to stare. Glenn rolls his eyes. Frustrated by the predicament, Glenn mentions that he has made numerous supply runs successfully by himself, adding, "The first time I bring a group, everything goes to hell."

Andrea tries to reassure Glenn, adding, "We'll be right behind you." She says.

"No, not you!" Glenn retorts.

"Why?" Andrea asks.

"If something goes wrong down there, I don't want everyone jammed behind me, hindering my escape. So, Carlos you come down here with me. Jaqui, you stand atop the latter to warn of any danger. Andrea, you and Rick watch the storefront to handle the walkers in case they break in." Glenn says. Glenn and Carlos head to the rat-infested, pitch-dark basement armed with flashlights, while Rick and Andrea head out to the storefront.

At the storefront, Rick and Andrea stand guard at the front of the store, walkers clawing at the windowed doors. "Sorry for the gun in your face." Andrea says to Rick, who hopes to further earn the group's trust by helping them all get out of the mess they're in now.

"It's okay. I understand why you did it. People do things when they're afraid. To protect themselves and their group." Rick says.

"Right." Andrea smiles.

"But next time, take the safety off." Rick says.

Andrea blushes with embarrassment. "Sorry. I haven't handled a lot of guns. This one was a gift – barely know how to use it, and in this world, that's a bad thing.

"Little red dot means it's ready to fire. We may have occasion to use it soon." Rick explains.

Back on the roof, T-Dog is still unsuccessfully trying to radio the others, and Merle tries to convince him to get the hacksaw in a bag of tools on the roof by telling him, "I'll be all Sammy Sunshine positive for you. It's nothing personal; just, your kind and my kind ain't meant to mix. There's no reason we can't work together in parlay as long as there's some kind of mutual gain involved. No come on bud, help me out." Merle begs.

T-Dog, bruised and sporting a fat lip, scoffs at Merle's offer. "I guess you want me to get that rifle over there, too, so you can shoot that cop when he comes back up." T-Dog says. Merle rolls his eyes.

Meanwhile, Glenn and Carlos travel through the sewer until they reach a grated barrier. They discuss ways to cut through, but abandon the idea when they see a walker devouring a rat on the other side. The walker reaches at them through the grate and they step back. "I doubt there'd be many of them in there." Carlos says. "It'd still be too risky." Glenn replies and they head back up.

In the store, Andrea spots a necklace with a mermaid pendant. "My sister, she's still such a kid in some ways. She loves mermaids." Andrea says, admiring the necklace. Rick encourages her to take it, "I don't feel comfortable stealing with a cop watching me." Andrea scoffs.

"I don't think those rules apply anymore." Rick insists.

As Andrea pockets the necklace, walkers break through the exterior glass doors and begin pounding on the interior set. The walker holding the rock leads the pack. Carlos, Jaqui, and Glenn arrive to report that the sewer is not an option. "We need a plan B!" Glenn shouts. They rush back up to the roof.

Back on the roof, Rick spots a cube van at a nearby construction site. Believing the keys to be kept nearby, it could be their best option to escape. However, the construction site is a few blocks away and the street is overrun with zombies. "We need to get to that truck!" Rick says.

"It's impossible." Carlos replies.

"Do you understand the difficulty in that situation? Moving past walkers undetected? If they hear you, see you, or smell you, they eat you." Jaqui explains.

"They smell dead. We don't. It's pretty distinct." Andrea says. Rick latches onto the concept of scent and how the dead use it to differentiate between themselves and the living.

"I have an idea!" Rick smirks.

Moments later, wearing rubber gloves and rain jackets, Rick and Carlos collect a dead corpse belonging to a zombie that had been dispatched earlier in the alley where Rick and Glenn had entered. They bring it back inside.

Inside, Rick is about to butcher the corpse with a fire axe, but pauses and decides to search the body. They acknowledge the man's lost humanity — his name was Wayne Dunlap, he had a picture of a pretty girl in his wallet, and Glenn indirectly states that since they are about to use his organs to help their escape, he's an organ donor. He used to have a life, like everyone else.

After the group shares a solemn moment of reflection, Rick begins hacking the dead body to pieces with the axe. Sounds of crunching bone, squishing and gurgling prompt gasps and retches from the group. After a few agonizing blows, Rick and Glenn smear guts on themselves, disgusting everyone, especially Glenn.

"Oh, this is bad. This is really bad." Says Glenn weakly.

Rick suggests a distraction, "Think about something else - Puppies and Kittens." Rick says.

But T-Dog says "Dead puppies and kittens." As a joke, making Glenn vomit.

Before leaving, Rick tosses T-Dog the key to Merle's handcuffs.

Outside, Rick and Glenn crawl under the bus blocking the alley, and gingerly shuffle into the streets, mixing into the crowd of zombies virtually unnoticed. Though a few zombies sniff the air curiously, the guts that the pair smeared on themselves earlier seem to be camouflaging their scent effectively.

T-Dog, Carlos, Andrea, and Jaqui race to the roof to follow Rick and Glenn with a pair of binoculars, and T-Dog tries again to radio the others.

Merle gets let in on the plan for the first time, and he scoffs, "That asshole's out on the street with the handcuff keys?" he gasps. T-Dog smiles and holds up the key and dangles it tauntingly. Merle's face drops. "Well…shit…" Merle gasps.

Back at camp with skies greying quickly and thunder audible in the distance, Amy frets over the whereabouts of the group — her sister in particular. "It's late. They should have been back by now." Amy says with worry. Dale, working on his RV's troublesome radiator hose with Jim, reasons with Amy that worrying won't make it better.

"Worrying will just make it worse. I know your sister, she will be back. They all will." Dale says.

Lori's doing laundry while Shane teaches Carl to tie knots. Suddenly, the radio crackles and squeaks, and T-Dog's garbled transmission comes through, explaining that they're trapped in the department store, surrounded by hundreds of walkers. Dale responds to the transmission but only radio silence follows.

"We do not go after them!" Shane insists. "We do not risk the rest of the group." confirming that the group Rick has joined at the Department Store in Atlanta and the survivors at the rock quarry are linked – Rick just doesn't know it yet.

"That's my sister out there, you asshole!" Amy snaps and slaps Shane and storms off.

"She has a point, they're our people." Dale says.

"They'll be fine." Shane scoffs. Amy returns, feeling more heated and emotional.

"So what? We're just gonna leave her there? All of them? She volunteered to go to help the rest of us." Amy argues.

"She knew the risks. If she's trapped, she's gone; you just have to deal with that. Not my fault none of those dumbasses can handle themselves including Andrea." Shane responds.

Amy is furious, exclaiming, "That's my fucking sister, you son-of-a-bitch!" and storms off once again. It was like dejavu for Shane. Lori follows, presumably to comfort Amy, but also seems dissatisfied with Shane's decision.

Back in Atlanta, Rick's plan seems to be working, as he and Glenn have made considerable headway through hostile territory, utilizing the guts of a dead corpse as camouflage. However, their luck may be changing for the worse as dark, ominous clouds gather overhead and distant rumbles of thunder forewarn of an impending rainstorm.

Before long, rain begins to fall rather heavily, beginning to wash the zombie guts off of Rick and Glenn. Meanwhile, Carlos tries to will the storm to pass, calling it a cloudburst. But with their human smell becoming more prevalent, a nearby zombie detects Rick and Glenn as humans, and roars at Rick, who in turn, dispatches it with his axe. All nearby zombies attack, and Rick and Glenn fight for their lives as they run to the construction site as the group on the rooftop cheers them on. The pair narrowly make it over a fence unscathed. Rick shoots at walkers as they haphazardly try to climb over the fence, while Glenn locates the keys. The keys are found, and the men make their way to the van as a zombie shambles after Glenn, having just scaled the fence. The crowd of walkers knocks down the fence and charges at them, but they speed away in the van just in time.

As the van drives away from the department store to avoid the horde, the group still on the roof worries that they're being left behind. But Rick orders Glenn to radio the group to get ready for pick-up, and mentions that they will need a way to lure the walkers away from the department store, eyeing a red Dodge Challenger sports car. Glenn smashes the driver's side window to gain entry, causing the car's alarm to blare loudly.

The group grabs their bags and rushes from the rooftop toward the loading dock, with no concern for unlocking Merle's handcuffs, but T-Dog reluctantly turns back as Merle begs. "Please don't go! Don't leave me here, man! Come on!" Merle begs.

The group continues quickly down the stairwell as T-Dog moves to set Merle free, accidentally slipping on the rain-soaked roof and dropping the handcuff key down a drain. He also drops the toolbox, as the hacksaw and other tools spill out. "I'm sorry." T-Dog gasps, while Merle accuses him of dropping the key on purpose. He runs back to the stairwell and chains the door shut to keep walkers out, but Merle is left screaming in rage, handcuffed to the roof. T-Dog races to join the group just as the walkers break through the final set of glass-pane doors and enter the department store.

Outside the loading bay at the back entrance of the store, with the walkers lured away by Glenn's car alarm, Rick pulls the van up and the group piles in, catching their breath as they drive away from the city. They look around at one another and a guilt-ridden T-Dog admits to the others he dropped the key, leaving Merle trapped on the roof, still handcuffed to a pipe. "I'm sorry… I dropped it… this is my fault." T-Dog sighs.

"Daryl's gonna be pissed." Jaqui says.

Then Andrea asks, "Where's Glenn?"

Meanwhile, a loud engine roars over the sound of a car alarm as a red Dodge Challenger speeds out of Atlanta with Glenn inside, screaming in celebration.


	6. Chapter 6: New Friends, Old Faces

Chapter six: new friends, old faces

 _That was a messy escape. Shit it was close. I can't even explain what was going through my mind. I didn't even get time to think about anything at all. But finally my job here was almost done, I won't be staying long. I'm just going to drop off this group safely to their camp and I'll be on the road again. I gotta stick to my mission, find Lori and Carl. Oh lord, I hope they're still out there…._

In the van, there is nothing but an awkward silence. "Look, no one is gonna miss Dixon, okay?" Andrea says.

"I know I won't." T-Dog says.

"Well, maybe Daryl …" Carlos says.

"Daryl?" Rick asks.

"Merle's brother." Jaqui replies.

"I feel so bad. I feel so bad, man." T-Dog sighs.

"Hey, relax. It's gonna be okay." Andrea says.

Suddenly Glenn has caught up to them and overtakes them in his flashy red car as the alarm continues to blare. Glenn cheers out the window.

Meanwhile, at the quarry camp, before it gets too dark, Lori gives Carl a haircut. "Baby, the more you fidget, the longer it takes. So don't, okay?" Lori says to Carl.

"I'm trying." Carl mutters irritably.

"Well, try harder." Lori sighs.

"If you think this is bad, wait till you start shaving. That stings." Shane says as he sits across from them, by the fire. Carl looks over at Shane. "That day comes, you'll be wishing for one of your mama's haircuts." Shane says.

"I'll believe that when I see it." Carl replies.

"I'll tell you what you just get through this with some manly dignity and tomorrow I'll teach you something special. I will teach you to catch frogs." Shane says.

"I've caught a frog before." Carl smiles.

"I said frogs – plural. And it is an art, my friend. It is not to be taken lightly. There are ways and means. Few people know about it. But I'm willing to share my secrets." Shane smirks, and winks at Lori.

Carl is confused he looks up at his mother for answers. "Oh, I'm a girl. You talk to him. That's boy stuff." Lori says.

"It's a one-time offer, bud not to be repeated." Shane says.

"Why do we need frogs, plural?" Carl asks.

"You ever eat frog legs?" Shane asks.

"Ew! No!" Carl replies.

"No, yum!" Shane laughs.

"No, he's right. Ew!" Lori adds.

"When you get down to that last can of beans, you're gonna be loving those frog legs, lady. I can see it now you'll be like, " Um, Shane, do you think I could have a second helping, please? Please? Just one?" Like that." Shane laughs.

"Yeah, I doubt that." Lori blushes at Shane's impersonation of her.

"Don't listen to her, man. You and me, we'll be heroes. We'll feed these folks Cajun-style Kermit legs." Shane says.

"I would rather eat miss piggy." Lori says before realising, "Yes, that came out wrong." Lori blushes.

"Heroes, son, spoken of in song and legend. You and me, Shane and Carl." Shane smiles.

Suddenly, the echo of a loud alarm blaring in the distance, approaching the quarry, interrupts the camp. "Hey, Dale, can you see what that is? Talk to me, Dale!" Shane says.

"I can't tell yet." Dale mutters as he looks around with his binoculars.

"Let him get a good look at it." Lori says.

"Is it them? Are they back?" Amy asks.

"I'll be damned." Dale mutters.

"What is it?" Lori asks.

"A stolen car is my guess." Dale replies.

"Holy crap – its Glenn!" Shane says as the car becomes in clear view to everyone.

"It's them!" Amy adds and pushes past Shane as Glenn pulls up at the camp.

"Turn that damn thing off!" Dale shouts.

"I don't know how!" Glenn says.

"Pop the hood, please." Shane says.

Amy rushes over and hugs Glenn.

"Pop the damn hood, please." Shane mutters again.

"My sister Andrea, is she okay?" Amy asks.

"Pop the damn hood!" Shane shouts.

"What? Okay. Jeez. Sorry." Glenn says and pops the hood. Shane stops the alarm.

"Is she okay? Is she all right?" Amy asks.

"She's okay! She's okay!" Glenn insists.

"Is she coming back?" Amy asks.

"Yes!" Glenn replies.

"Why isn't she with you? Where is she? She's okay?" Amy worries.

"Yes! Yeah, fine. Everybody is. Well, Merle not so much." Glenn explains.

"Are you crazy, driving this wailing bastard up here? Are you trying to draw every Walker for miles?" Shane snaps.

"I think we're okay." Glenn says.

"You call being stupid okay?" Shane asks.

"Well, the alarm was echoing all over these hills. Hard to pinpoint the source. I think it's safe." Dale adds. Shane looks at Dale. "I'm not arguing. I'm just saying. But it wouldn't hurt you to think things through a little more carefully next time, would it?" Dale says.

"Sorry. But at least I got a cool car." Glenn laughs.

Seconds later the van arrived. "Come meet everybody." Carlos says to Rick. Rick takes a deep breathe and rests his head on the steering wheel for a second.

 _Nothing could have prepared me for what was about to happen next. Nothing. Oh lord, I felt like when I rested my head on that wheel, I fell asleep and the rest of this was all a dream…_

Andrea is the first to rush out of the van. "Amy." Andrea calls and rushes over to Amy.

"Andrea! Oh my god! You scared the shit out of me." Amy gasps and hugs her sister.

Carlos then exits. "Daddy!" Carlos's kids shout.

"Hey. Come here, sweetie. Hey. I told you I'd be back, didn't I?" Carlos says as he hugs his family.

"You are a welcome sight." Maria says and kisses him.

"I thought we had lost you folks for sure." Dale says with relief.

"How'd y'all get out of there anyway?" Shane asks.

"New guy he got us out." Carlos reveals.

"New guy?" Shane asks.

"Yeah, crazy Vato just got into town." Carlos says and turns back to the van.

"Hey, helicopter boy! Come say hello." Carlos calls as Jaqui and T-Dog make their way over to the fire.

"The guy's a cop like you." Carlos adds.

Rick steps out of the van and begins to approach the group to introduce himself, but freezes as he sees Shane. Shane goes white as a ghost. "Well…shit…" Shane scoffs.

Carl looks over and gasps. Lori follows Carl's stare. "Oh my god." Lori sighs.

Rick begins to tear up. "Is that…real…" Rick mutters.

"Dad! Dad!" Carl shouts as he runs over to Rick.

"Carl!" Rick gasps with relief. Lori then rushes over and hugs her husband.

"Oh my god!" Lori gasps. The other survivors are shocked and surprised by the coincidence and are moved by the heart-warming reunion. Shane stares at the reunion and Lori looks up at him – the reality kicked in that Shane lied to her about Rick being dead. Shane feels bad and walks away.

That night, the group were sitting around the fire. Rick had Lori and Carl in his arms. He felt whole again. Rick was explaining his journey. "Disoriented. I guess that comes closest. Disoriented. Fear, confusion all those things but Disoriented comes closest. Words can be meagre things. Sometimes they fall short. I felt like I'd been ripped out of my life and put somewhere else. For a while I thought I was trapped in some coma dream, something I might not wake up from ever." Rick mutters.

"Mom said you died." Carl sighs.

"She had every reason to believe that. Don't you ever doubt it." Rick replies. Lori looks over at Shane, with a guilt look on her face.

"That night when things got really bad, Shane and I went back to the hospital. I had to see you one last time. They wouldn't let me. They wouldn't tell me if you were alive or dead. It was bizarre, but there were a few doctors left and they told me that they were gonna medevac you and the other patients to Atlanta, and it never happened. I didn't know what to think – I thought you were gone but just being kept live by the machine…" Lori explains.

"Well, I'm not surprised after Atlanta fell." Rick replies.

"Yeah." Lori sighs.

"And from the look of that hospital, it got overrun." Rick adds.

"Yeah, looks don't deceive. I barely got them out, you know?" Shane mutters.

"I can't tell you how grateful I am to you, Shane. I can't begin to express it." Rick says. Shane doesn't even smile. Nod. Nothing. He has too much hurt in his eyes that Lori is back with Rick. Shane had fallen for her, it was obvious.

"There go those words falling short again. Paltry things." Dale laughs.

The group are then distracted by Ed, putting a large log in his fire, where Sophia and Carol sit beside him quietly.

"Hey, Ed, you want to rethink that log?" Shane asks.

"It's cold, man." Ed mutters.

"The cold don't change the rules, does it? Keep our fires low, just embers, so we can't be seen from a distance, right?" Shane explains.

"I said it's cold. You should mind your own business for once." Ed grunts Shane stands up and approaches Ed.

"Hey, Ed are you sure you want to have this conversation, man?" Shane warns him.

Ed rolls his eyes and looks to Carol. "Go on. Pull the damn thing out. Go on!" Ed orders. Carol rushes up and begins to try and pull the large log out of the fire.

"Christ." Shane mutters to himself.

Carol then puts out the large fiery log and sits down. "Hey, Carol, Sophia, how are y'all this evening?" Shane asks with worry.

"Fine. We're just fine." Carol says defensively.

"Okay." Shane nods. "I'm sorry about the fire." Carol whispers.

"No, no, no. No apology needed. Y'all have a good night, okay?" Shane says.

"Thank you." Carol smiles politely.

"I appreciate the cooperation." Shane mutters and returns the group fire.

"Have you given any thought to Daryl Dixon? He won't be happy to hear his brother was left behind." Dale asks.

"I'll tell him. I dropped the key. It's on me." T-Dog sighs.

"I cuffed him. That makes it mine." Rick adds.

"Guys, it's not a competition. I don't mean to bring race into this, but it might sound better coming from a white guy." Glenn replies.

"I did what I did. Hell if I'm gonna hide from him." T-Dog says.

"We could lie." Amy suggests.

"Or tell the truth. Merle was out of control. Something had to be done or he'd have gotten us killed. Your husband did what was necessary. And if Merle got left behind, It is nobody's fault but Merle's." Andrea explains.

"And that's what we tell Daryl? I don't see a rational discussion to be had from that, do you? Word to the wise – we're gonna have our hands full When he gets back from his hunt." Dale sighs.

"I was scared and I ran. I'm not ashamed of it." T-Dog says.

"We were all scared. We all ran. What's your point?" Andrea replies.

"I stopped long enough to chain that door. Staircase is narrow. Maybe half a dozen geeks can squeeze against it at any one time. It's not enough to break through that…not that chain, not that padlock. My point Dixon's alive and he's still up there, handcuffed on that roof. That's on us." T-Dog sighs and walks off.

"We'll figure it out when Daryl gets back." Shane mutters.

Later that night, Rick was putting Carl to bed. "I found you, didn't I?" Rick smiles.

"I love you, dad." Carl smiles.

"I love you, Carl." Rick smiles and kisses Carl's forehead.

Rick then turns to Lori and she grabs his hand and pulls him onto the mattress with her. They kiss sweetly for a while before she rolls over and Rick spoons her from behind. "I found you both." He smiles.

"Yeah. Lori smiles, still in shock.

"I knew I would." He says.

"You're getting cocky now, a little bit." She smiles.

"No. No, I knew. Walking into our home, finding an empty house, - Both of you gone." Rick begins.

"I'm so sorry." Lori whispers.

"I knew you were alive." Rick smiles.

"How?" Lori asks.

"The photos were gone, all our family albums." Rick explains. Lori giggles and kisses Rick. She gets up and retrieves a photo album. "I told you so." Rick smiles.

"Now you're getting cocky, huh? A lot." Lori smiles. Lori opens the album.

Rick sits up and retrieves the photo he had of his family from his uniform pants. "It belongs in here with the other photos." Rick says and kisses Lori's cheek as he places the photo in the album.

"Baby, I really thought I would never see you again. I'm so sorry for everything. I feel like when you were in the hospital, I just I wanted to take it all back. The anger and the bad times. But the mistakes…" Lori begins and tears up. Rick kisses her.

"Maybe we got a second chance. Not many people get that." Rick says. They begin to kiss some more and Lori reaches for her necklace to show Rick that his wedding ring is on there. "I wondered where that went." Rick smiles.

"Do you want it back?" Lori asks.

"Of course." Rick smiles. Lori removes the ring and slides it back on his finger. She kisses his finger lightly afterwards. They begin to kiss and it becomes more of a make out session. Lori turns off the lamp. Rick looks over at Carl, who is already dead asleep.

"He won't wake up. Don't worry." Lori whispers, like she had already tested how heavy a sleeper Carl was. Rick then gets on top of Lori and kisses her neck, whilst grinding against her. Lori's eyes fill with tears of guilt. She slides her hand down Rick's smooth body and she unbuttons his silky boxer shorts. She grasps his smooth cock and feels it growing in her hand. Rick resumes kissing her neck before sliding his cock inside her.

Meanwhile, Shane was on night watch and he stared at the tent, knowing what Rick and Lori were doing. Shane began to cry. Guilt. Anger. Confusion. Jealousy. The emotions were taking over.

 _Oh lord, making love to my wife felt so good. It was like the first time all over again. This had to be a dream. When was I going to wake up?_

As another quiet morning is here, Rick takes a morning stroll. He sits alone on a hill overlooking the camp. He talks into the radio trying to contact Morgan, Renee and the others. "Morgan. Renee. Do you hear me? Come in. This is Rick. I went to the city and it's not safe at all. It's full of walkers. But I found some more survivors. They took me to their camp. My family is here. I found them. My wife and son. You guys need to come to our camp, its only five miles of the highway along that dirt road. We have a camp, shelter, food and water. There's a lot of people here. So if you can hear me, get here as soon as you can and let me know…" Rick says whilst Renee and Morgan and the others are happy and shocked to hear his voice. Renee is relieved but as she hears the fact Rick has found his wife, her smiles turns into a frown. Morgan rushes to the radio.

"Rick? Hello…it's Morgan! Yeah…we'll be there as soon as we can." Morgan explains but then notices Renee's saddened loss of excitement.

After Rick informs his friends he makes his way back to camp while Morgan tries to comfort Renee. "Are you okay?" he asks.

"I'm fine…" Renee lies.

"Are you sure?" Morgan asks.

"Never better! C'mon everyone, pack your things we found Rick and he has a safe camp for us. Robbie get a car working for us." Renee commands. Duane rushes over to Morgan and Renee.

"We found Rick! He's okay!" Duane shouts with excitement.

"Yeah son, he's okay." Morgan smiles.

"You don't look very excited…" Duane mutters referring to Renee.

"What? No I'm fine…" Renee smiles and walks away.

"This is so cool! I'll get to meet his son, Carl and maybe we can be friends!" Duane smiles.

"Yeah son. Maybe." Morgan smiles back.

Meanwhile Rick walks over to Carol, who just finished cleaning his uniform. "Howdy, I'm Rick…" he smiles.

"Yeah I know. I'm Carol. I just thought I'd give your clothes a quick clean. Good to see some of the spares fit ya." Carol smiles politely.

"That's kind of you, thanks." Rick says. Carol smiles and nods politely. "You're not very talkative…" Rick laughs.

Carol looks up and sees her husband watching her. "Uh, yeah…I'm quiet…here you go…" Carol mutters and smiles politely and walks away. Rick wonders what that was all about and Shane then approaches him.

"Rise and shine. You're up early. I thought you'd be more tired." Shane laughs.

"Yeah, I just couldn't sleep I guess." Rick mutters.

"Don't worry partner you'll settle in soon enough." Shane smiles and pats him on the back.

"So what's the plan for today?" Rick asks.

"Nothin' we just take shifts doing certain jobs to make everyone contribute to keep the camp organised and safe." Shane explains.

"Okay, well I may have some friends of mine heading this way. Should get here sometime this afternoon I reckon." Rick says.

"Good man." Shane nods.

"Morning dad." Carl smiles approaching them.

"Hey son." Rick smiles and hugs Carl.

"Morning Carl, how's it hangin little man?" Shane laughs.

"Good." Carl laughs back.

"Carl! Come get some breakfast!" Lori says.

"Yes mom!" Carl replies and rushes over to the table and sits beside Sophia and Carol as Lori hands him a bowl of cereal.

"Looks like this whole camp thing could become a normal lifestyle…" Rick says.

"Yeah man. It could and it has. For all of us." Shane smiles.

"Rick, you too! Come eat!" Lori says breaking up the conversation. Shane and Rick laugh.

"Oh goody!" Rick laughs.

"Go eat buddy I'll talk to you later." Shane smiles.

Rick sits beside Carl and greets Sophia. "Hi, little girl, I'm Rick…" he smiles politely.

"Hi…I'm Sophia." Sophia replies in her sweet little voice. Carol then looks worried.

"Sophia! What'd I tell you?" Ed shouts. Carol runs over to Ed and calming him down. "Come on then…" Ed grunts pulling Carol into their tent.

"What was that about?" Rick asks.

"Don't ask…I'll explain later." Lori mutters with worry.

"Alright…I'm sorry if I got you in trouble." Rick says to Sophia.

"You okay Sophia?" Lori asks, noticing Sophia looks shaky and scared from her father's scary shout. Sophia nods.

Soon after the group was hard at work doing their daily routines and taking turns on shifts with their duties.

 _It was a miracle. I not only have found my wife and son. But I found a whole camp full of people. Survivors. They have a safe liveable routine place here. But wow…Lori and Carl, they're okay! I have never felt more alive and happier to see them. I recently spoke to Morgan and Renee. They said they will be making their way here soon. It's weird, I know it's never going to be normal again, but I sure feel like it could start feeling normal around here. Only time will tell…_

Later that afternoon, Rick and Lori were talking in their tent. "You okay?" Rick asks.

"Yeah, I'm okay…" Lori mutters.

"You sure?" Rick asks.

"Uh huh. Anyway, I gotta go get Carl and get lunch ready." Lori sighs.

"Alright. Hey, what was with Carol and her husband earlier?" Rick asks.

"Oh, well I don't think any of us know the full story there but…he doesn't like Carol and Sophia talking to no one. I don't know what it is…" Lori explains.

"Hmm, well he doesn't seem to like me. That's for sure." Rick sighs.

"Well I wouldn't take it too personally. Besides, I think we all know what goes on in that relationship. We just don't understand why she lets it happen." Lori reveals a hint. Rick is shocked and angry that he would treat his wife like that. "Rick, it's not our problem. Just leave it be." Lori says calming Rick as she notices his anger and worry towards Carol's relationship. "Anyway let's go get some lunch." Lori smiles as she caresses Rick and hugs him.

"Alright then." Rick nods and smiles.

The adult's lunch is interrupted by the sound of the kids screaming.

"Mom!" Carl screams.

"Carl?" Lori gasps with worry.

"It's over there!" Sophia adds as they rush to the parents.

"Dad!" Carl shouts.

"Baby!" Carol shouts as she rushes over to Sophia.

"Mama!" Sophia whines.

"Rick! Over here, boy! Come on, come on!" Shane shouts as a walker approaches.

"Carl! Baby!" Lori gasps as she grabs and hugs her son.

"You're okay!" Carol says as she pulls Sophia in tightly.

"I've got him. I've got him." Shane begins, taunting the walker.

"Nothing bit you? Nothing scratched you?" Lori asks.

"No, I'm okay." Carl sighs.

"It's the first one we've had up here. They never come this far up the mountain." Dale says.

"Well, they're running out of food in the city, that's what." Shane replies.

"Oh, Jesus…" Rick mutters as he approaches.

The walker is then shot in the head with an arrow.

"Son of a bitch." A man grunts as he emerges from the bush with a crossbow. It's Daryl Dixon.

"That's my deer! Look at it. All gnawed on by this filthy, disease-bearing, Motherless poxy bastard!" Daryl grunts.

"Calm down, son. That's not helping." Dale says.

"What do you know about it, old man? Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to "on golden pond"? I've been tracking this deer for miles. Gonna drag it back to camp, Cook us up some venison. What do you think? Do you think we can cut around this chewed up part right here?" Daryl explains.

"I would not risk that." Rick says.

"That's a damn shame. I got some squirrel about a dozen or so. That'll have to do." Daryl sighs and makes his way over to the camp as Dale, Shane and Rick follow.

"Merle! Merle! Get your ugly ass out here! I got us some squirrel! Let's stew 'em up." Daryl calls.

"Daryl, just slow up a bit. I need to talk to you." Dale begins.

"About what?" Daryl asks.

"About Merle." Dale begins.

"There was a There was a problem in Atlanta." Glenn begins.

"He dead?" Daryl asks.

"We're not sure." Glenn replies.

"He either is or he ain't!" Daryl says getting irritated.

"No easy way to say this, so I'll just say it…" Rick begins.

"Who the hell are you?" Daryl asks.

"Rick Grimes." Rick introduces himself.

"Rick Grimes, you got something you want to tell me?" Daryl asks.

"Your brother was a danger to us all, so I handcuffed him on a roof, hooked him to a piece of metal. He's still there." Rick explains.

"Hold on. Let me process this. You're saying you handcuffed my brother to a roof and you left him there?!" Daryl snaps.

"Yeah." Rick sighs.

Daryl then attacks Rick. Rick stops him with a chokehold.

"Hey! Enough!" Andrea shouts.

"You'd best let me go!" Daryl grunts.

"Nah, I think it's better if I don't." Rick says.

"Choke hold's illegal." Daryl mutters.

"You can file a complaint." Rick replies. Daryl continues to put up a fight. "Come on, man. We'll keep this up all day. I'd like to have a calm discussion on this topic. Do you think we can manage that? Do you think we can manage that?" Rick asks.

Daryl stops fighting and nods. "Yeah." He mutters as Rick releases him. "What I did was not on a whim. Your brother does not work and play well with others." Rick begins.

"It's not Rick's fault. I had the key. I dropped it." T-Dog explains.

"You couldn't pick it up?" Daryl asks.

"Well, I dropped it in a drain." T-Dog adds.

"If it's supposed to make me feel better, it don't." Daryl replies.

"Well, maybe this will. Look, I chained the door to the roof so the geeks couldn't get at him – with a padlock. It's gotta count for something." T-Dog pleads.

"Hell with all y'all! Just tell me where he is so's I can go get him." Daryl mutters.

"He'll show you. Isn't that right?" T-Dog says, pointing at Rick.

"I'm going back." Rick nods.

"So that's it, huh? Send the new guy to rescue one of the team? The rest of y'all ain't gonna move?" Daryl mutters. The others are silent. "Fine. Let's go…" Daryl says urging Rick to follow.

"Wait! Wait! Give me a minute alone with my husband!" Lori interrupts and pulls Rick aside. "You're just gonna walk off? Just to hell with everybody else?" Lori whispers.

"I'm not saying to hell with anybody. Not to you. Not to Carl. Not to Shane. I'm just doing the right thing." Rick says.

"Well, look, I…I don't think this is the right thing, okay, Rick? So could you just… could you throw me a bone here? Could you just tell me why? Why would you risk your life for a douche bag like Merle Dixon?" Lori asks.

"Hey! Choose your words more carefully." Daryl grunts as he overhears.

"No, I did. Douche bag's what I meant. Merle Dixon The guy wouldn't give you a glass of water - If you were dying of thirst." Lori says.

"What he would or wouldn't do doesn't interest me. I can't let a man die of thirst and exposure. We left him like an animal caught in a trap. That's no way for anything to die, let alone a human being. I can't carry that." Rick replies.

"So you and Daryl, that's your big plan? Oh, come on." Lori sighs.

"Glenn. You know the way. You've been there before in and out, no problem. You said so yourself. It's not fair of me to ask I know that, but I'd feel a lot better with you along. I know she would too." Rick asks, referring to Lori.

"Uh…" Glenn mutters.

"That's just great. Now you're gonna risk three men, huh?" Shane grunts.

"Four." Carlos says, stepping forward.

"My day just gets better and better, don't it? You see anybody else here stepping up to save your brother's cracker ass?" Shane mutters.

"You wouldn't even begin to understand. You don't speak my language. My brother is a good man." Daryl says.

"That's four men." Rick says.

"It's not just four. You're putting every single one of us at risk. Just know that, Rick. Come on, you saw that walker. It was here. It was in camp. They're moving out of the cities. They come back, we need every able body we've got. We need 'em here. We need 'em to protect camp." Shane says.

"Fine. They can stay. Daryl and me go alone. That's the plan. Glenn, draw me a map." Rick orders. Glenn nods.

"It seems to me what you really need most here - Are more guns." Daryl says.

"Right, the guns. That's the other reason I'm going back." Rick agrees.

"Wait. What guns?" Shane asks.

"Six shotguns, Two high-powered rifles, over a dozen handguns. I cleaned out the cage back at the station before I left. I dropped the bag in Atlanta when I got swarmed. It's just sitting there on the street, waiting to be picked up." Rick explains.

"Ammo?" Shane asks.

"700 rounds, assorted." Rick says.

"You went through hell to find us. You just got here and you're gonna turn around and leave?" Lori scoffs.

"Dad, I don't want you to go." Carl sighs.

"To hell with the guns. Shane is right. Merle Dixon? He's not worth one of your lives, even with guns thrown in. Tell me. Make me understand." Lori scoffs.

"I owe a debt to a man I met and his little boy. Lori, if they hadn't taken me in, I'd have died. It's because of them that I made it back to you at all. They said they'd follow me to Atlanta. They'll walk into the same trap I did if I don't warn him." Rick explains. "What's stopping you?" Lori asks. "The walkie-talkie, the one I had when I came here. He's got the other one. They're on their way here but if timing is right I can meet them in the city and bring them here safely." Rick explains.

"These are our walkies?" Shane asks.

"Yeah." Rick nods. "I need that bag. Okay?" Rick asks looking at both Carl and Lori.

"All right." Carl nods.

"I'll be fine." Rick smiles.

"I know." Carl nods. Rick stands up and turns around. "Rumour is you have bolt cutters." Rick and looks at Dale.

"Maybe." Dale mutters.

"Yeah, we get to that roof, though, we'll need to cut that chain and the handcuffs." Rick says.

"I never like lending tools. The last time I did and yes, I am talking about you, T-Dog, let's just say your bag of guns wasn't the only bag that was dropped. My tools got left behind with Merle." Dale says.

"We'll bring your tools back too. Think of the bolt cutters as an investment." Rick replies.

"Sounds like more of a gamble. What do I get in return?" Dale asks.

"What do you want?" Rick asks. "How about one of those guns you bring back? My pick." Dale says.

"Done." Rick replies. Dale then hands Rick the bolt cutters.

"Oh and uh, let's sweeten the deal a little bit, Dale. That cube van of yours, when you get back – Dale and I can strip it for parts and use it to fix the RV." Jim adds.

"Done. Thank you." Rick says.

"Come on, let's go!" Daryl grunts.

"Hey, Rick, got any rounds in the python?" Shane asks.

"No." Rick replies.

"Last time we were on the gun range, I'm sure I wound up with a few loose rounds of yours." Shane says and begins to search a bag for bullets.

"You and that bag like the bottom of an old lady's purse." Rick laughs.

"I hate that you're doing this, man. I think that it's foolish and reckless. But if you're gonna go, you're taking bullets." Shane insists.

"I'm not sure I'd want to fire a shot in the city, not after what happened last time." Rick says.

"That's up to you." Shane replies. Shane finds two bullets.

"Well two men, two rounds. What are the odds, huh? Well, let's just hope that… two is your lucky number, okay?" Shane says.

"Thank you." Rick says.

"All right." Shane nods.

"Before you go, have lunch first – we didn't finish it." Lori insists. Rick looks at Daryl.

"I am peckish. But then we go get Merle!" Daryl says.

After lunch, Glenn rushes over to the group. "Hey guys, where's Landon?" Glenn asks.

"Oh shit…" Shane mutters.

"Oh no, he went to the high school to save some girls." Dale explains.

"What? How did he know there were girls there?" Rick asks.

"I don't think that's the point. Why the hell did he go alone?" Shane replies.

"We thought he was going to take Daryl with him when he got back." Lori reveals.

"What about me? Oh the kid… yeah, he came to me asking for ma help but hey, I ain't helping nobody till my brother returns, which now, thanks to this asshole, he could be dead meat!" Daryl shouts.

"Why wouldn't you go at the time?" Lori asks.

"In case you have a bad memory, my brother left me in charge!" Daryl explains. Lori is scared with how angry Daryl is.

"Look, Daryl, I'm sorry…we can go get your brother. Just you and me. But we need to go save this kid. This Landon guy and his friends. Now look, I don't know how you guys run things around here but we all need to stick together and as for the leader, well…I got the impression that Shane here was handling things just fine." Rick sighs.

"Well, thank you brother. Least I don't boss everyone around like that no good trouble maker, Merle!" Shane replies.

"Watch your mouth!" Daryl grunts.

"So, what's it gonna be Daryl?" Rick asks.

"Alright then, let's go save this kid then you and me, we are going out there to get my brother." Daryl confirms.

"Alright." Rick nods.

"So who's going?" Shane asks.

"Me and Daryl. What about T-Dog and Carlos?" Rick suggests.

"Sure amigo, I'm in." Carlos nods.

"No, Carlos, por favour!" Maria begs him not to.

"Maria, I must. Take Havier and Helena and keep them safe. I will be back." Carlos explains hugging his worried tear eyed wife.

"Si. Si." Maria nods.

"Yeah I'm in too…" T-Dog says.

"Be careful sweetie. All of you, be careful." Jaquita sighs.

"I'm in too…" Shane adds.

"No. Shane I think it'd be best if you stay here. I need you take care of things in case not all of us make it back, you're the leader." Rick explains. Shane nods.

"Oh Rick please be careful, I only just got you back!" Lori sighs with worry.

"I'll be fine... I promise." Rick assures her.

"Let's get movin..." Daryl says. The group begin to move as Lori and Rick's hands let go.

"Wait! I'm coming with! I'm kinda a good luck charm!" Glenn smiles and rushes to catch up to the group.

As the group nears out of sight Lori sniffles and catches Shane staring at her. She rolls her eyes. "Stop it!" Lori demands quietly.

"Stop what?" Shane asks.

"You can't look at me like that anymore, in fact you can't look at me at all!" Lori grunts.

"Lori, do you really think it's that easy? It's not. I don't want it this way!" Shane mutters.

"What way? You don't want it what way Shane? You don't get to decide what way things work anymore! Which is exactly why, I think Rick is wrong. You're not a leader! The only thing you lead is a life of lies and loneliness like you deserve! You're nothing to me anymore! You are going to run this group to hell if you let this get in the way of things Shane so just let it go and leave me alone!" Lori grunts and walks off to her tent. Shane stands alone feeling heartbroken and angry.

 _So on we went, some new friends and me. We were on a mission to save a couple of teenagers. We didn't know what to expect. Anything could happen. All we knew was it was a big risk, but a risk we were willing to take to save someone's life…_

Rick, Daryl, Glenn, T-Dog and Carlos make their way to the high school. They hide in the bushes directly across from the school. "It's surrounded!" Glenn mutters.

"It's not many. We can handle them." Rick assures them.

"Okay so how do we get in?" Carlos says.

"What's the plan?" T-Dog adds.

"Let me handle this!" Daryl insists and then walks out of the bushes with his crossbow in hand.

"Daryl what are you doing? Get back here!" Rick demands.

Daryl approaches the group of walkers and shoots one in the head. He then reaches for his knife and stabs the rest in the head one after the other. Daryl stands in front of the school doors feeling clever as the others approach him.

"Daryl, that was amazing but don't ever pull a stunt like that again!" Rick laughs.

"Nice, man." T-Dog smiles.

"You're suicidal I swear…" Glenn says still shocked.

Suddenly from behind him, the glass door is smashed and a hand comes through and grabs Daryl. Glenn flinches and lets out a high pitched squeal as Carlos stabs the hand and frees Daryl. The group laugh and stare at Glenn. "What?" Glenn asks.

"You need a dress or somethin?" Daryl jokes. The others laugh.

"What? Shut up man. That scared me." Glenn sighs.

"Thanks." Daryl nods to Carlos.

"Aright, let's go in and take this walker out." Rick says. T-Dog kicks the doors open and Glenn swings his bat and hits the walker repeatedly in the head, crushing the skull.

"Okay princess I think you got it!" Daryl says sarcastically.

"Shut up! I just wanted to prove that I could handle it!" Glenn sighs with exhaustion.

"Alright let's look for..." Rick begins but looks to Glenn for the kid's name.

"Right, uh, Landon. Landon is his name." Glenn stutters.

"Right. Landon. We check each room…" Rick continues.

"Maybe we should split up and cover more ground faster…" Carlos suggests.

"Are you crazy?" Glenn asks.

"It's a school…there ain't that much ground to cover." T-Dog mutters.

"He's right. Daryl, Glenn you come with me." Rick says.

"Si, and T-Dog, you come with me." Carlos explains.

They all nod and split up. Rick, Glenn and Daryl head into the first room. Computer Studies. They slowly make their way through the room. Rick in front followed by Daryl then Glenn. The room looks to be clear but suddenly a loud bang from behind startles Daryl and Rick and they turn with their weapons ready to reveal a guilty Glenn. "Oops…" Glenn smiles.

"What are you doin boy? You tryin to get us killed! Shut up!" Daryl demands.

"Sorry…the shelf fell." Glenn mutters.

"It's okay now come on let's keep looking." Rick says.

They continue moving. "You know maybe we could check to see if any of these computers work…" Rick suggests.

"That's not a bad idea…" Daryl says.

"Yeah but the schools power supplier is down. The whole town's is." Glenn explains.

"Damn…" Rick sighs.

Meanwhile, Carlos and T-Dog make their way into the biology lab.

"I loved biology when I was in school. What about you T?" Carlos asks.

"Uh, no I did not like biology…" T-Dog mutters.

"I love it. I love nature. The flowers. The rocks. The trees. The animals. The…" Carlos begins but is stopped by T-Dog.

"I get it!" T-Dog snaps.

"Sorry…" Carlos mutters.

"Look, its nothing personal man…I just…never finished school that's all. I dropped out." T-Dog reveals.

"Oh a dropout? That's okay, don't worry, my friend, in my village growing up everyone was dropping out of school. I only went because my papa was a teacher…" Carlos explains.

The conversation then stops as they hear a noise coming from the store cupboard. Carlos and T-Dog exchange a worried look. They slowly approach it, weapons in hand. Carlos with a pickaxe and T-Dog with a small revolver. 1, 2, 3… T-Dog counts on his fingers then opens the door and a walker jumps out and tries to attack Carlos but T-Dog quickly picks up the fire extinguisher and smashes it over the walker's head. The walker still twitches on the ground so Carlos uses the pickaxe and hits it centre of the head.

"Thanks amigo…but why didn't you just shoot it?" Carlos sighs with confusion.

"Waste of ammo. Besides we gotta keep it down so more of em don't come running." T-Dog explains.

Carlos then looks inside the store cupboard and finds nothing but useless supplies.

Meanwhile Rick and his group make their way to the English room. Three walkers are inside. "Oh my god…" Glenn sighs.

"Two students and a teacher by the looks of it." Rick says.

"Looks like someone already got to this one." Daryl says noticing a jammed pencil in one of the student walker's head.

"Maybe we're getting closer to Landon!" Glenn assumes.

"Maybe but we don't know for sure. He may have been bit." Rick replies.

"Alright let's do this." Daryl interrupts and uses his crossbow and shoots the pencilled student. Rick then picks up a roll of pencils and stabs the other student in the head then retrieves Daryl's arrow and launches it through the others head. Glenn then approaches the teacher.

"Sorry Miss but you've got detention!" he says sarcastically before swinging the bat repeatedly crushing its skull once again. "Woo! I'm getting good at this!" Glenn jokes.

"Take it down a notch Glenn, I'm the new guy here not you." Rick laughs.

Rick and the guys make their way to the cafeteria. Where they are startled by a walker lunch lady. Glenn then notices a meat cleaver on the bench and rushes to grab it. "I got this!" he says then slices the walkers head in half using the cleaver. Blood splatters onto both Rick and Daryl. They cringe.

"Man, that's just nasty!" Daryl grunts.

"Sorry…" Glenn replies as Rick wipes the blood off his face.

"It was awesome!" Daryl laughs. Glenn joins in on the laughter but suddenly they hear banging.

"Help!" A voice shouts.

"Let us out please!" A female voice shouts.

Rick approaches the freezer door where the voices and banging is coming from and opens it to reveal three teenagers. A boy and two girls.

"Landon!" Glenn smiles.

"Glenn! Thank you so much for saving us!" Landon gasps.

"Hi, I'm Rick…" Rick introduces himself.

"I'm Landon and this is Serena and Jenny…" Landon introduces them.

"Hi…" Serena sighs. "

Hey there. Thanks a bunch!" Jenny adds.

"No problem…" Rick mutters back as he studied the three teens. Landon looked to be your typical bad boy. Jenny was tall and skinny with long straight brown hair and glasses. Serena was the captain of the cheer squad, blonde, pretty and ditzy.

"So this everyone? Can we go now?" Daryl asks.

"Uh, no…" Landon shakes his head,

"We lost a few friends. Plus while we were locked in that freezer, Kylie died…" Jenny explains. Rick observes the freezer as Kylie's frozen body falls. Rick flinches.

"Yeah and the rest of our group went to the gymnasium I think…" Landon adds.

"How'd you get locked in the freezer anyway?" Rick asks. "Well…we were being chased by those zombies and we had to hide in there because lunch lady Gloria was going to kill us!" Serena gasps.

"All we heard was Serena's annoying loud screaming!" Jenny mutters.

"It was like, so scary!" Serena adds.

"Right. So how many more of you are there? We need to get out of here!" Glenn says.

"Let's go find them then!" Landon insists as they then head out of the cafeteria.

Meanwhile T-Dog and Carlos make their way down the hall into the auditorium and it is full of walkers. They notice on the stage, a pretty girl covered in blood standing centre stage, alone.

"Hey girl! You okay?" T-Dog shouts. Some of the walkers turn toward Carlos and T-Dog while some remain trying to get the girl. The girl notices Carlos and T-Dog.

"My name's Carrie can you please help me?" the girl screams.

"No we must not!" Carlos mutters.

"We gotta!" T-Dog insists.

But suddenly the girl is pulled off stage by walkers and is bitten all over. Carlos and T-Dog rush down the hall to the gymnasium.

As they enter the gymnasium Rick and the others enter as well. The gym has a few walkers in it too.

Suddenly a teenage boy rushes out from behind the bleachers getting the most of the walker's attention. The walkers follow the guy behind the bleachers. "Now!" the boy shouts.

Suddenly a girl rushes over and pushes a button, which closes the bleachers squashing the walkers as the boy escapes through the other end. Rick, Daryl, Carlos and the others take out the rest of the walkers and then approach the two teenagers.

"Nice job buddy!" Landon says and high-fives the guy.

"Thanks man. Hey I'm Brandan, this is Mia." The guy reveals as Mia smiles politely.

"And I'm her brother! Izak!" another boy says entering the scene. Mia smiles and begins rushing over to Izak but he is then suddenly attacked by a walker. More walkers are starting to enter.

"No!" Mia cries.

"Mia, come on we gotta get out of here I'm sorry…" Brandan gasps as he pulls Mia back from rushing over to Izak.

"Shit!" Daryl mutters.

"Let's go!" Glenn shouts.

The group rush back out the main doors of the school and head back to camp.

 _What a night! We got in there and saved as many of the teenagers as we could. But not all of them made it out alive._


	7. Chapter 7: Camp Crashers

Chapter Seven: Camp Crashers

The following morning the campers gather round the fire discussing what happened last night as Brandan holds a teary Mia.

"Wow that's awful!" Carol sighs.

"I'm glad you all made it out alive." Jaquita adds.

"Si, I'm so happy you are okay!" Maria says kissing Carlos's cheek.

"I'm sorry about your brother…" Sally sighs to Mia.

"It was scary, we were so close to freezing in there." Landon says.

"Like so close! Like we even were gonna take off our clothes and stick together just to get warm!" Serena gasps. The campers look at her. "What?" she giggles.

"Young lady, that doesn't sound like a good idea around young fellas like this one!" Dale says.

"What? No!" Landon replies.

"We were not going to do that!" Jenny says. Serena laughs.

"She was just over exaggerating." Glenn laughs.

"Typical!" Jenny adds.

As the campers talk, Sophia looks over into the distance and so does Carl.

"Dad…" Carl mutters.

"Mom…" Sophia adds.

"What is it?" Rick asks.

"Who are they?" Carl asks pointing over in the distance.

The campers look over and Rick immediately stands up and he rushes over to the group of people. "They're my friends!" he shouts.

It's Morgan, Renee and the others.

"You're all here! You should have called on the radio! How'd you find us?" Rick smiles with surprise.

"It took us forever but we did it!" Robbie laughs. Rick shakes Morgan's hand, Robbie's hand and the other's hands except for Renee, who he embraces in a warm hug. It's a special moment until interrupted by Lori clearing her throat.

"Rick, who's this?" Lori asks.

Rick clears his throat and introduces them. "Renee, this is my wife Lori. Lori, this is my good friend Renee." Rick says as the girls awkwardly shake hands observing each other.

"Rick has told me a lot about you." Lori smiles.

"Likewise." Renee mutters.

"Firm handshake." Lori says.

"Thanks." Renee smiles sarcastically.

"And this is Morgan and his son Duane." Rick says.

"Hi…" Morgan says shaking Lori's hand.

"Carl, come meet Duane." Rick says.

"C'mon Sophia!" Carl says grabbing Sophia's hand rushing over and meeting Duane.

Suddenly the attention is drawn to Edna as she gasps.

"Edna? What is it?" Renee asks.

"Oh my god…" Andrea gasps.

"Mom!" Amy adds.

The girls rush into Edna's arms. Rick and the campers are surprised by this loving reunion.

"Mom! Oh my god it's really you!" Amy gasps as they hug.

"Oh my girls! You're okay!" Edna sighs with relief.

"Oh my god, I thought something had happened to you. We saw the house it was destroyed and the walkers overran the store. How'd you escape?" Andrea asks.

"Well it wasn't easy but I was saved by this young man." Edna explains referring to Robbie.

Amy and Andrea turn and look at Robbie.

"Thank you!" Amy says gratefully. Robbie smiles and nods as Andrea just smiles politely observing him.

"Now that you're all here, let's get you all settled in." Rick cuts in.

 _It's a miracle. My friends made it here safely! Morgan, Duane, Robbie, Edna, Linda, Ray and…Renee. She's here. I am so happy to see them. I am pretty confident that a group our size may actually be able to beat this thing and survive. Another thing, it was amazing, the old lady I met earlier, Edna, she found her daughters. They were here at this camp. It was such a warm moment to witness. I couldn't be happier to have a group of friends like all the new ones I have made, my wife and son, all safe here, at this camp. Could this be the start of the new "normal"?_

That night, the campers sit around the fire chatting. Rick staring at Renee. Shane Staring at Lori. Andrea staring at Robbie. Brandan staring at Mia. Rick then makes a final goodnight speech.

"I just wanted to say, I am so happy to be here with my family and thank you for accepting me and my new friends in to your camp. I'm glad you guys made it here safely and I look forward to being able to maybe start a nice routine here with you all and that you all get along and we stick together like a team. Whether it be Shane or whether it be Daryl as our leader, as long as we stick together." Rick says.

"Thanks Rick." Shane nods. Lori gives Shane a look.

"Well, I think Rick should be the new leader…" Lori mutters. Shane looks at Lori irritated.

Rick laughs with surprise. "What? No… I mean I couldn't." Rick mutters.

"Why not? It's damn fine by me." Daryl insists.

"I agree man, Rick you'd make a perfect leader!" T-Dog adds.

"Yeah exactly honey, you are the perfect leader for this group. We need a new leader. A fresh new role model." Lori encourages.

"I agree, Rick you once told me that I'm a leader and if I didn't know any better I'd say you're the best leader a group like this could have…" Renee sighs and looks at Lori as Lori smiles politely.

"Yeah man, you kept me and my son safe. I'm no leader." Morgan adds.

"Yeah man!" Landon adds.

"I think you'd make a great leader Rick…I mean no offence Shane…" Glenn mutters. Shane shakes his head and laughs sarcastically.

"What do you think?" Rick asks Shane.

"What? Well…uh, you think you can handle it buddy. Go for it." Shane replies.

"Alright then…I guess it's settled if everyone agrees." Rick sighs.

"Well, no offense Rick but I think I speak for most of us campers here…but you're the new guy, I mean no offense to you or Lori but…we hardly know anything about you. Can we trust you? I mean Shane has done an alright job on his own." Dale sighs.

"I agree…" Andrea adds.

"Oh no honey, Rick is a great leader." Edna convinces.

"I'm in…you kept my mom safe so I'm in." Amy smiles.

"I don't know bout it neither…" Ed grunts giving Rick a death stare.

"Why the hell not? I think he could do it! You got this brother." Shane says.

Dale shrugs and nods. "Well it's your choice I guess, as long as no one gets hurt and everyone is okay with it. Rick, this is a big responsibility. You gotta keep everyone here safe." Dale mutters.

"I think I can handle it." Rick says.

"Don't worry, I'll back you up one hundred percent." Shane adds.

Andrea catches Robbie staring at her. Robbie smiles politely. Andrea laughs to herself. "Guys, you know what, I'm tired. We all are. Let's call it a night." Andrea says.

"Come on mom…" Amy says taking Edna to the tent.

"Come on Carl." Lori says.

"Goodnight." Morgan says to the group.

All the campers go to their tents except Rick and Renee. "I'm glad you're here." Rick smiles. Renee nods. "You okay?" Rick asks.

"Yeah, I uh…I'm just tired I guess." Renee lies.

"Well, I'll leave you to it then. Goodnight." Rick smiles and nods.

Renee smiles back. "Night." She mutters and begins walking toward her tent but then pause and turns to Rick. "Rick…" she says.

"Yeah?" Rick asks.

"I…I'm glad you found your family. I'm glad you can be happy with them again." Renee smiles politely holding in a tear as she wanted to confess her feelings for him but she didn't have the guts. Rick stands alone watching Renee walkaway unaware Lori was watching them.

Meanwhile, Robbie tries to sneak over to Andrea's tent to get her attention. "Psst! Psst!" he whispers.

Andrea hears him and steps out of the tent. "Can I help you?" she asks.

"I saw the way you were looking at me by the fire." Robbie winks.

"Excuse me?" she scoffs.

"C'mon. Don't deny it. You want me. And it may be your lucky night cause I have a thing for blondes." He says stepping closer to her and grabs her wrist.

Andrea pulls his hand off her. "And what the hell would make you think I'm even remotely interested in sleeping with you?!" she snaps.

"Whoa, it's cool…I just thought…" he stutters.

"You thought what? That I'd sneak you into my tent and I'd let you fuck me? Well you thought wrong! My little sister and my mother are in there!" she scoffs.

"I know. I'm sorry. I didn't know what I was thinking." Robbie sighs.

"Which is why, I'm going to drag your scrawny little pussy ass into the woods and I'm gonna give you the best fuck you've ever had." She adds.

Robbie looks up at her with confusion and surprise. "What? Seriously?" he asks with a smile of hope.

"Don't fucking smile at me." She says and she grabs him by the shirt and drags him into the woods.

"Wow…you're aggressive…" he laughs.

"Take your fucking clothes off asshole." She mutters.

"Okay…" he says with a hint of excited fear in his voice.

Andrea kisses him but then pulls back. "You know what? We're not gonna do the kissing thing…you use too much tongue, what are you twelve?" she scoffs.

"I'm actually…" he goes to reply.

"No. We're not doing that…" she says and pushes his face into her tits and Robbie takes off Andrea's top and buries his face between her big tits.

"Oh yes…Robbie like." He laughs.

"Don't make it weird!" Andrea sighs.

After minutes of Robbie sucking Andrea's hard nipples she grabs a fistful of his hair and pulls him up.

"Alright, let's try this again." She says and kisses him. "Alright. Better." Andrea says.

"Yeah?" he smiles proudly.

"Alright. Now let's see what you got…" she replies and pulls down his jeans, exposing his hard cock. It's thin and long. Pale like the rest of him. Andrea has seen bigger regardless of how impressive Robbie's cock was. "Wow…" Andrea laughs.

"What? Seriously?" Robbie asks with shock. Andrea continues to laugh and gets up. "I've had no complaints…" he adds.

"We're not gonna do this…" she says, continuing to laugh and she begins to walk away.

"It gets bigger! I swear!" he says but Andrea is out of sight. "I'll just finish myself…" he mutters to himself and begins to jerk his cock.

Suddenly he is grabbed from behind. Robbie screams.

"Shhh! It's me!" Andrea laughs.

"What?" he asks with confusion.

"Fuck me!" she says.

"Seriously? But…you…" he mutters.

"I said FUCK ME!" she says again in a strict tone.

"Yes ma'am." He replies. Andrea gets on the ground and spreads her legs as Robbie gets on top of her and fucks her.

 _That night I didn't sleep that well. In fact I didn't get much sleep at all. I was tossing and turning just thinking. Thinking about Renee. I feel this…spark between us. I think it's obvious. I know we can both be mature about this. I don't wanna get hurt and I don't want her to get hurt either. I'm a married man and I believe I shouldn't have gotten so attached to her and let my feelings get in the way of this. I don't want to make any problems. Ha, just when I thought things could have been getting easier…boy was I wrong!_

The following morning, Renee stands alone watching Rick and Lori hugging and kissing together again. Renee is slightly jealous. Morgan approaches her noticing her jealousy. "Hey, you alright?" Morgan asks.

"Uh, yeah…I'm just great…" Renee denies.

"Look, it must really suck. Seeing them together again…" Morgan sighs.

"Not really…he's happy…that's all that matters." Renee says.

"But it would still hurt. We knew how you felt about him." Morgan replies.

"You're right it does suck…" Renee says.

"I'm sorry…" Morgan says.

"Oh well, nothing we can do now. So I say we tell Rick what we talked about while he was away…" Renee says.

"What? Why?" Morgan asks.

"They don't need us here and I think heading to the suburban downtown area could be safe." Renee explains.

"But we just got here!" Morgan sighs.

"Well we should stick together and it was your idea!" Renee mutters.

"I know but…what will Rick think?" Morgan asks.

"Well who cares! We are not his problem. It hurts too much watching them okay, I admit it! We just need to leave! There are probably people out there we could help! We don't wanna join this "well-connected" group and become followers! So come on let's do it, Morgan!" Renee convinces.

Morgan thinks. "Alright…I'll go but hey what about the others, do you think they will come with us? I know Edna won't. She just got her daughters back!" Morgan explains.

"Well maybe it's a good thing Edna stays here, she's old and would slow us down anyway! As for the others, well it won't take much convincing…" Renee grunts with frustration.

Morgan sighs and isn't sure but agrees.

"Hey guys!" Renee shouts getting everyone's attention. The campers then gather around as Morgan and Renee stand in front of them. "Morgan and I have agreed to head east. We are leaving. Anyone is welcome to join us, but we are heading down to the suburban towns and looking for any more survivors, hoping we'll get as far as Ohio. Morgan and I agreed that we want to help people that may need us." Renee reveals.

The group gasp. "What! Renee, what are you talking about? Why would you want to leave?" Rick asks.

Renee remains silent.

"We will still have a radio with us so we will still be able to communicate and stay in touch with you guys." Morgan sighs.

"Morgan! You don't actually think it will be safe do you? You'll never make it all the way to Ohio." Rick asks.

"Look Rick, you're a good man. Thank you. I am grateful for all you have done but Renee is right, we need to help as many people as we can." Morgan explains. Rick is frustrated.

"So who's coming with us?" Renee asks.

The group look at each other.

"Even if it is not safe and you die, just think you will die a hero. You will die trying to save other people's lives. But if you stay, you are just running and hiding. Are you afraid and just want to stay here waiting for the enemy to get you or do you want to take a risk knowing it could save a life?" Renee explains.

Robbie nods to himself. "I'm in!" he says and steps forward and stands behind Renee.

"We are in, even though our sons are gone, I don't want to live the rest of our life in fear so we want to at least try and save other innocent people like our boys once were…" Linda sighs as she and Ray stand behind Renee too.

"What about you Edna?" Morgan asks.

Andrea and Amy look at their mother with worry. "Oh…well I just got my girls back and I can't leave them again. They are my family and I want to be here and help keep them safe. I'm sorry Renee…I can't join you…" Edna sighs.

"Right, I guess that's everyone then…" Morgan says.

"Well let's get moving, we will eventually reach Macon before you know it." Renee laughs.

"How can you just pack up and leave! Both of you!" Rick shouts.

Renee turns to him. "It's not easy…but I can't stay here and torture myself!" Renee grunts with sadness and looks at Lori. Rick is silent as he realizes how Renee feels.

"Wait!" Michonne shouts.

"Wow, she speaks!" Robbie laughs – everyone else is just as shocked.

"I'm coming with you!" Michonne insists.

"Why?" Renee asks.

"Ohio, that's where…" Michonne begins.

"What?" Morgan asks.

"I…I used to live there…I know people there…I need to know if they are okay…" Michonne mutters and stands behind Robbie.

Rick and Renee share a forbidden heart to heart look. Renee and Rick begin tearing up.

"Please…" Rick sighs.

"Uh, I'm sorry…goodbye…" Renee sighs clearing her throat.

"Goodbye Rick, you're a good man. We will keep in touch. Keep that radio on. C'mon, Duane…" Morgan sighs after shaking Ricks hand and patting his shoulder.

Rick and Renee continue to stare into each other's eyes. Both filled with pain.

"Renee…" Rick sighs.

"Rick…" Renee says, tearing up as the group begin walking away.

Rick stands there filled with sadness watching as his friends leave in the sunset. Admitting to himself he really liked Renee. Lori walks over and hugs him, comforting him.

 _They're gone. My friends, Morgan, Renee, Robbie…they're gone. I somewhat feel responsible. I know I shouldn't because it's not my fault but as Renee left I got the message. Yeah, I got it loud and clear. Renee was hurting. She was hurting from seeing me with Lori. From being around Lori. She was jealous even, I don't know, maybe. All I knew was, it was my fault she wanted to leave and now I could have put their lives in danger. I couldn't stop worrying…I hope and pray they make it somewhere safe…my thoughts are with them…and a place for Renee will always be forbiddingly hidden deep in my heart…_

Daryl then interrupts. "Not to break this thing up, but Rick…we have business to discuss! It's time to hold up your end of the deal! We go find my brother." Daryl grunts.

"I've kept you waiting long enough, I'm sorry for that. We leave first thing in the morning. Alright?" Rick replies. Daryl rolls his eyes. His patience is being tested.

"You think we'll find him?" Rick asks.

"I hope you don't." Lori replies.

"I do. For Daryl's sake." Rick replies.

"Andrea was right, Merle would have and possibly still could get someone here killed. Don't do it, Rick. Let Daryl get over it." Lori begs.

"I have to. I have to make it right." Rick replies.

"Well that's my man. Always accepts challenges. You can do it. Just be careful. He's a psycho." Lori says in a regretful tone.

"I got that impression from him too, but…time will tell…until then, lets go snuggle round the fire and get some dinner." Rick says.


	8. Chapter 8: Leap Frog

Chapter Eight: Leap Frog

 _Today was the day. Daryl Dixon and I would set out to rescue his brother. The guy I handcuffed to a roof. I know the others didn't want Merle back here but I couldn't be responsible for a man dying of thirst and exposure. I had to make things right. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't hurting. With Renee and the others gone, I'm doing this, not only for myself but for them too. It's also like a distraction. I feel so numb. Why do I feel this way? I don't know. Did I love Renee? Maybe. Do I love my wife? Yes. So what was the problem? What's wrong with me, lord?_

Rick is preparing for the trip with Daryl and the others are having breakfast. Lori comes up behind him and hugs him. "I don't want you to go." She sighs.

"I know. But we've already talked about this." He replies.

"I know." She sighs.

"You'll be fine. Just bring my tools back in one piece." Dale says.

"Yeah, and I got the map you wanted." Glenn adds.

"I don't like this… I mean this is on me too. I should be going with them." T-Dog says.

"I've already said no! We are not risking more men then we need to for Merle Dixon." Shane says.

"It's okay, we can handle it." Rick assures T-Dog. Daryl then starts the van.

"Come on Rick! We need to go! Now! I'm done waiting!" Daryl shouts.

"Alright then, the map?" Rick says.

"Here." Glenn says and passes it to him.

"Thank you." Rick replies.

"Please be careful." Lori sighs and kisses Rick's cheek.

"I will be." Rick replies.

"Good luck." Shane says. Rick nods and walks over to the van and gets in before he and Daryl hit the road.

After they leave, Lori walks over to the tent to check on Carl. "You okay?" she asks.

"Yeah." Carl nods.

"Hey. You know, I bet they'll be just fine." Lori says, assuring Carl.

"I'm not worried. Are you?" Carl replies.

"Yeah, a little bit." Lori replies.

"Don't be." Carl says.

"Why?" she asks with confusion.

"Think about it, mom. Everything that's happened to him so far – Nothing's killed him yet." Carl says positively. Lori laughs and hugs Carl.

Meanwhile. T-Dog remains out by the fire with the others. "This is on me! This ain't right! This is on me!" T-Dog says with worry.

"Baby, calm down." Jaquita says.

"Yeah man, get a grip!" Jim adds.

"Mr T-Dog…it be okay." Ling says.

"Not your fault…" Leo adds.

"It is my damn fault!" T-Dog snaps.

"Man c'mon…you can't blame yourself forever. I'm sure he's fine." Glenn adds.

"Son, you need to relax. It is all going to work out." Dale says.

"What if it doesn't? Huh? What if they don't make it back? That's on me!" T-Dog says.

"Stop being so goddamn negative." Landon sighs.

"Like, seriously this isn't your fault dude." Serena says.

"Truthfully, not me, not my brother and not any of the other campers her judge you or blame you for what has happened." Sally says.

"Oh, you mean the other campers that hardly talk… you mean the "background campers" huh?" T-Dog laughs sarcastically.

"Everyone here is just as important as the other. We have several families here and yes they may be quiet but we've all seen shit that makes us cope differently. They do chores that's all that matters." Dale replies.

"Dale, look me in the eye and tell me this ain't my fault…" T-Dog says.

"T-Dog…this is not your fault." Carlos says.

"I wasn't talking to you Carlos! Back off!" T-Dog snaps.

"No, you back off!" Shane snaps and pushes T-Dog.

"You want to start something?" T-Dog shouts.

"Back up! Take a walk!" Shane snaps.

"Hey! Whoa! Enough. Walk away." Dale adds. T-Dog rolls his eyes and storms off into the woods.

Meanwhile in the van, Rick is driving and Daryl is in the passenger seat. Anxiously bumping his legs up and down. "He better be okay! It's my only word on the matter!" Daryl mutters.

"T-Dog said that the walkers can't get to him. He should be fine. The only thing that's going to be getting to your brother is us." Rick assures him.

"Better be. Anyway, pull up…we'll walk from here…we're close." Daryl says as they pull up by the train tracks by the city. Daryl grabs his crossbow and Rick grabs his handgun and they move out.

"Look, I'm sorry for all this." Rick says.

"The only reason I ain't beat yo ass is because you're new. But there's still time. We'll see if my brother is alive first." Daryl replies.

"Daryl, I'm sorry." Rick says. Daryl looks at him and can see how genuine Rick is. Daryl nods and they continue to walk into the city.

 _We got back to Atlanta and made our way into the city centre on foot. Following the map accurately shouldn't be too hard. I'm just hoping we have a smooth, clear path to Merle. The sooner we get Merle, the tools and my guns, the sooner we can get out of here. I didn't know if we'd find Merle alive but I was feeling confident about one thing, I think no matter what happens Daryl will know how sorry I truly am and maybe we can work together and get through what ever happens…but as he said "There's still time…"_

Back at the quarry, Shane and Carl are down by the watering hole catching frogs. "I'm not getting anything." Carl sighs with disappointment.

"Yeah. Being all wily, staying submerged. Little suckers, they know something's up. That's what's going on. Just going to have to do this the old-fashioned way." Shane replies and grabs a bucket and walks deeper into the water.

"What are you doing?" Carl asks.

"All right, little man, look. You are the key in all this, okay? All I'm gonna do is I'm gonna go after one of them, all right, scare the rest of them off. They're all gonna scatter. I'm gonna drive 'em your way." Shane explains.

"All right." Carl nods excitedly.

"What you need to do is you need to round up every bad boy you see, all right? Are you with me?" Shane smiles.

"Yeah." Carl nods.

"Yeah?" Shane cheers.

"Yeah!" Carl cheers.

"Hells yeah. Give me your mean face." Shane replies and then growls. Carl then does a mean face and growls back. "Yes sir. Are you ready?" Shane laughs.

"Yeah!" Carl smiles.

"Are you ready? Here we go, boy. Here we go." Shane says as he tries to catch one under the water and splashes around. Carl laughs as he prepares the net. "All right, little man, they're coming your way. They're coming your way! Go on, get 'em, get 'em. They're coming your way, come on." Shane says in a playful tone as he splashes around, scaring the frogs toward Carl but also exaggerating. Carl can't stop laughing. "Catch them frogs. Catch them frogs. They're coming, little man! Get 'em! Get that net in there and get 'em! They're coming, little man! Get 'em! Get that net in there and get 'em!" Shane continues to cheer in a playful tone.

Eventually Shane walks back over to Carl, dripping wet. "What have you got, bad boy? What do you got? What do you got?" Shane asks looking at the net. Carl holds up an empty net. "Well…dirt." Shane sighs.

"Sorry." Carl says.

"Oh boy. No. All right, we've got to start over. Come on, let's find this bucket. I left in the water somewhere." Shane laughs as he messes up Carl's hair and they laugh it off.

Meanwhile at camp Andrea and Amy are preparing to go fishing. "Dale, before we do our afternoon chores we're just going to do some fishing." Andrea says. Dale nods.

"Mom, you wanna come?" Amy asks.

"Oh no dear, I don't want to sink the damn thing." Edna says.

"Mom, stop it." Amy laughs.

"No it's alright, you two go on. I'll keep an on your mother." Dale insists.

"Oh thank you." Edna smiles.

"Are you sure, mom?" Andrea asks.

"I'm sure. Now go. May I?" Edna replies, looking at Dale asking to join him on the RV roof.

"Sure." He smiles.

Edna climbs up and sits beside Dale. "Bye girls, have fun." Edna smiles.

Amy and Andrea make their way down to the waterhole and get into their small canoe. They paddle out to the middle of the water and prepare to start fishing. Once they begin, Andrea is staring at Amy. "What?" Amy asks.

"Nothing." Andrea mutters.

"It's not nothing. It's always something." Amy sighs.

"Didn't dad teach you to tie nail knots?" Andrea asks.

"Why would he do that? He only ever used a fisherman's knot. One knot." Amy replies.

"No, he didn't. No, he tied at least three." Andrea insists.

"Clinch knots? No way." Amy replies.

"Fine, I'm making it up." Andrea rolls her eyes. Amy sighs and continues waiting for a bite on her line.

"Did dad teach you mostly dry lures?" Andrea asks.

"Yeah. You?" Amy replies.

"Wet." Andrea reveals.

"You're kidding. But he was always so adamant. I mean, you know dad on the fishing thing." Amy says.

"Gee, you think? I only spent my entire childhood with my ass in a boat. But in my day it was all about getting the hook seated. We were fishing for the dinner table." Andrea says, tearing up a little.

"Not us. We always threw them back. Always." Amy sighs also tearing up.

"I guess he changed things up." Andrea replies.

"But that'd be like changing his religion or something." Amy laughs.

"People change. It's not his fault we were born 12 years apart." Andrea sighs.

"No. No, because the minute you went off to college it was my ass in that boat and he taught me dry lures from day one. This was not behaviour developed over time. You think he did it for us? Because he knew we were so different. He knew that you needed to catch the fish and I needed to throw them back." Amy says beginning to cry.

"All right, remember his rule: No crying in the boat. It scares the fish." Andrea smiles, hiding her tears too.

"We finally got mom back! After all this time. I thought she was…I thought they both were. But maybe dad isn't. I mean, maybe Florida wasn't hit so bad. Maybe it's better there. Don't you think? Maybe we should see if mom wants to go back there." Amy explains.

"I think you have a bite. Even with the wrong knots." Andrea sniffles, clearing her throat.

"Oh God. So much for the no crying rule." Amy sniffles and checks her line.

"I think that was more for dad than the fish." Andrea smiles. Amy smiles and nods.

Back at the RV, Dale and Edna are bonding. "So, you're from Florida too huh?" Dale asks.

"Yes, before all this we were happy there. All of us. Dysfunctional but happy. Is your wife here?" Edna asks.

"Oh…no, she didn't make it. But…I don't want to dwell on that." Dale replies.

"I apologise for bringing it up." Edna sighs.

"No it's okay. I just…the wound is still fresh. But if I know her, she'd want me to stay strong and be happy." Dale smiles.

"Well I'm sure she is proud of you. You took care of my girls right from the start and for that I can't thank you enough." Edna smiles and caresses his cheek.

"Well…thank you…it's…it's been an honour. Your girls are both very beautiful, smart and respectful girls." Dale explains.

"They get that from me." Edna giggles.

"Yeah they do…" Dale chuckles.

Back in Atlanta, Rick and Daryl cut open a fence and crawl through and continue to make their way to the building where Merle was left. They kill a few walkers along the way too.

"Merle first or guns?" Rick asks.

"Merle! We ain't even having this conversation." Daryl snaps.

"We are. We need to think of the easiest path and plan to and also the quickest. Let me check the map." Rick explains.

"Whatever. It's your call." Daryl grunts.

"Lucky for you, Merle's closest. The guns would mean doubling back. Merle first." Rick explains.

"Let's get movin then." Daryl nods and they continue to move out.

Meanwhile, Glenn has just finished cooling down T-Dog and is approached by Landon. "Glenn. I wanted to say thank you again for what you and the others did for my friends and me. I know it wasn't easy but I appreciate it. Brandan, Mia, Serena, Jenny and I, we're here because of you. Thank you." Landon explains.

"It's fine really." Glenn sighs.

"If you need ANYTHING, I'm your man! I got your back!" Landon insists.

"Okay. Thanks." Glenn nods.

Lori then walks over to the RV and interrupts Dale and Edna's moment. "Dale. Have you seen Carl?" Lori asks.

"Shane took him down to the quarry. There was some mighty bold talk about catching frogs." Dale explains.

Lori rolls her eyes and begins to walk down to the waterhole.

"You're welcome!" Dale shouts.

"Thanks." Lori mutters. Dale laughs and sits back down beside Edna and they continue talking.

Lori approaches Carl and Shane in the water and interrupts. "Hey, Carl, What did I tell you about not leaving Dale's sight?" Lori asks with an insistent tone.

"But Shane said we could catch frogs, remember?" Carl reminds her innocently.

"It doesn't matter what Shane says. It matters what I say. Go on back to camp. I'll be right behind you." Lori demands. Carl sighs and puts his head down and begins to walk away.

"I've got to tell you, I do not think you should be taking this out on him." Shane sighs.

"You don't tell me what to do. You lost that privilege." Lori hisses and walks away.

"Lori, could you just wait up a second? I think we should talk. We haven't had a chance." Shane begs.

"No. No. No. See, that's over too. You wanna talk? You can tell that to the frogs." Lori insists.

"Damn it, Lori. Look, I don't know how it appears to you. Or what you think…but…" Shane begins.

"How it appears to me? I'm sorry. Is there a grey area here? Let me dispel it. You stay away from me. You stay away from my son. You don't look at him. You don't talk to him. From now on, my family is off-limits to you." Lori demands.

"Lori, I don't think that's fair." Shane groans.

"Shane, shut up. Don't speak!" Lori insists.

"I don't think that…" Shane tries to speak.

"My husband is back, Shane. He is alive." Lori snaps.

"He's my best friend. Do you think I'm not happy about that?" Shane snaps back.

"How dare you? Why would you be? You're the one that told me that he died. You made me believe that! That is the ONLY reason I really left with you in the first place! You son of a bitch." Lori fumes and storms off. Shane remains feeling bad, guilty and emotional.

In Atlanta, Rick and Daryl have made it inside the building and quietly sneak around. There are three walkers approaching them, slowly. Daryl shoots two in a row with his crossbow, whilst Rick uses his gun to bash the head of the last one. "Alright, upstairs…let's go." Daryl insists.

"Alright." Rick nods.

Rick and Daryl make their way upstairs and Rick uses the bolt cutters to cut the chain off the door.

Daryl and Rick rush onto the roof but are both shocked by what they find. Daryl falls to the ground and cries. "Merle! Merle! No! No! No! No! No!" Daryl groans. Rick looks over at the sick site of Merle's hand. It appears Merle cut his own hand off to free himself. Daryl grunts in anger and goes to attack Rick but Rick points his gun at Daryl. "I won't hesitate. I don't care if every walker in the city hears it. Calm down." Rick says.

Daryl tears up and drops to the ground.

"I'm sorry." Rick sighs.

"You got a rag or something? I want to take it back with us." Daryl says.

Rick takes off his backpack and hands Daryl a rag and Daryl begins to wrap the hand. "Looks like he used the saw." Rick says.

"I guess the saw blade was too dull for the handcuffs. Ain't that a bitch. He must have used a tourniquet to stop the bleeding, maybe his belt. Be much more blood if he didn't." Daryl explains.

"Let's head inside, follow the blood. See if we can find him." Rick says.

Daryl puts the hand in the backpack and grabs the bag of tools and they head inside. "Merle? You in here?" Daryl shouts as they descend the staircase.

They reach ground floor and go down a hallway where they find two dead walkers. "Had enough in him to take out these two sumbitches. One handed. Toughest asshole I ever met, my brother. Feed him a hammer, he'd crap out nails." Daryl scoffs proudly.

"Any man can pass out from blood loss, no matter how tough he is." Rick sighs.

They continue to make their way down the hall. "Merle!" Daryl shouts.

"We're not alone here. Remember? Keep it down." Rick whispers.

"Screw that. He could be bleeding out. You said so yourself." Daryl sighs as they make their way into an industrial kitchen. The stove is still on and flames are visible. The blood trail leads to here. "There's the belt! What's that burned stuff?" Daryl asks.

"Skin. He cauterized the stump." Rick reveals.

"Shit. Told you he was tough. Nobody can kill Merle but Merle." Daryl laughs.

"Don't take that on faith. He's lost a lot of blood." Rick says.

"Yeah? Didn't stop him from busting out of this death trap." Daryl mutters.

"He left the building? Why the hell would he do that?" Rick asks.

"Why wouldn't he? He's out there alone as far as he knows, doing what he's got to do. Surviving." Daryl explains.

"You call that surviving? Just wandering out in the streets, maybe passing out? What are his odds out there? No worse than being handcuffed and left to rot by you sorry pricks. You couldn't kill him. He ain't so worried about some dumb dead bastard." Daryl says.

"What about 1,000 dead dumb bastards? Could he handle that? Different story? Why don't we just go get the guns?" Rick sighs.

"Do what you want. I'm gonna go get him." Daryl insists.

"Daryl, wait." Rick stops him.

"Get your hands off me! You can't stop me." Daryl snaps.

"I don't blame you. He's family, I get that. I went through hell to find mine. I know exactly how you feel. He can't get far with that injury. I could help you check a few blocks around but only if we keep a level head." Rick explains.

"I could do that." Daryl nods.

"Only if we get those guns first. I'm not strolling the streets of Atlanta with just my good intentions, okay?" Rick says.

"I'll do it myself then…" Daryl says.

"You're not doing this alone. Even I think it's a bad idea and I don't even like you much. You haven't given me that chance to." Rick says. Daryl laughs.

"If I'm alone, I can move fast." Daryl says.

"Hear me out, according to the map: That's the tank, five blocks from where we are now. That's the bag of guns. Here's the alley I got dragged into when I first met Glenn. So that's where we will go, if we cross any walkers it's your job to take care of em." Rick explains.

"Why me? " Daryl asks.

"Your crossbow is quieter than my gun." Rick sighs.

"Alright then. We take the back alley, swoop in – get the guns and then head on out to look for Merle." Daryl replies.

"Alright then." Rick agrees.

 _It's not looking so good…we found no trace of Merle except his hand and a trail of blood…we gotta keep following that trail or at least what's left of it. I didn't want to stay in the city for too much longer but I promised Daryl I'd help him have one quick sweep to find his brother. I don't know how I'll convince him to leave if we don't find him. But I knew we didn't have many options._

Back at the waterhole, Jaquita, Amy, Andrea and Carol were doing their afternoon laundry chores. "I'm beginning to question the division of labour here. Can someone explain to me how the women wound up doing all the Hattie McDaniel work?" Jaqui says as she looks over Ed, who is just relaxing and watching them work.

"The world ended. Didn't you get the memo? It's just the way it is." Amy sighs.

"I do miss my Maytag." Carol sighs.

"I miss my Benz, my sat nav." Andrea adds.

"I miss my coffeemaker. With that dual-drip filter and built-in grinder, honey…that was heaven…" Jaqui adds.

"My computer. And texting." Amy adds.

"I miss my vibrator." Andrea confesses.

"Oh my god!" the girls giggle.

Carol looks over at Ed before leaning closer to the girls. "Me too." She whispers. The ladies giggle and laugh – mostly surprised by Carol's confession.

Ed approaches them. "What's so funny?" Ed grunts.

"Just swapping war stories, Ed." Andrea sighs.

"Yeah." Carol sighs.

Ed continues to stare at the women.

"Problem, Ed?" Andrea asks.

"Nothin' that concerns you. And you ought to focus on your work. This ain't no comedy club. Ok." Ed mutters.

"Sure." Carol smiles politely.

"Y'all doing a shitty job cleaning them clothes anyway." Ed mutters.

"Ed, tell you what – You don't like how your laundry is done, you are welcome to pitch in and do it yourself. Here." Andrea says sarcastically and throws an item of clothing to him. He forcefully throws it back at Andrea's face. "Oh!" Andrea gasps.

"Ain't my job, Missy." Ed snickers.

Andrea steps up and approaches him. "Andrea, don't." Carol sighs.

"What is your job, Ed? Sitting on your ass smoking cigarettes?" Andrea scoffs.

"Well, it sure as hell ain't listening to some uppity smart-mouthed bitch." Ed grunts.

"Ed…" Carol sighs.

"Tell you what – Come on. Let's go!" Ed grunts, demanding Carol come with him. Carol gets up and approaches him.

"No. I don't think she needs to go anywhere with you, Ed." Andrea says.

"And I say it's none of your business. Come on now. You heard me." Ed grunts.

"Carol you don't have to." Andrea says.

"Andrea, please. It doesn't matter." Carol sobs quietly.

"Hey, don't think I won't knock you on your ass Just 'cause you're some college-educated cooze, all right?" Ed threatens Andrea. The ladies gasp.

"Now you come on now or you gonna regret it later." Ed continues to Carol.

"So she can show up with fresh bruises later, Ed? Yeah, we've seen them." Jaqui adds.

"Stay out of this black mamba! Now come on! You know what? This ain't none of y'all's business. You don't want to keep prodding the bull here, okay? Now I am done talking. Come on." Ed grunts pulling Carol as Andrea grabs Carol and pulls her back.

"Leave her alone, Ed!" Andrea snaps.

"No. No. It's okay." Carol cries.

"Carol, you don't have to…" Andrea sighs.

"You don't tell me what! I tell you what! You think you can involve yourself! Huh?" Ed grunts and slaps Carol hard across the face, continuing to try and pull her tighter. The ladies gasp trying to help Carol and fight off Ed.

"Let go! Get off her!" Amy adds.

"Come here! Come here!" Ed demands.

"Get off her! Get off her! Get off her!" The girls shout. Finally freeing Carol.

Shane rushes over and drags Ed aside. "Get off me!" Ed grunts.

"Ed?" Carol sobs.

"It's okay." Amy sighs, comforting Carol.

"No!" Carol cries for her husband.

"It's okay." Amy sighs.

Shane begins to brutally hit Ed repeatedly.

After many hits the girls try to stop it. "Shane, stop! Just stop! That's enough!" Andrea calls.

"Stop it! Stop!" Carol cries.

"You put your hands on your wife, your little girl or anybody else in this camp one more time, I will not stop next time. Do you hear me? Do you hear me?!" Shane demands, the hate and evil emotion in his eyes as he was already triggered from his emotional conversation with Lori.

"Yes." Ed stutters, spitting blood.

"I'll beat you to death, Ed. I will kill you!" Shane warns him and storms off.

Carol rushes over to Ed crying. "Ed! Oh god! No. God! Ed, I'm sorry. Oh my god. Ed, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Ed." Carol cries, holding Ed in her arms.

Meanwhile, Lori and Carl return to camp. "Is everything alright?" Dale asks, excusing himself from Edna for a second.

"No. No Dale. Everything is not alright. My husband is out there…trying to rescue some bully red neck! He may not come back Dale. I have to get used to that thought again. Nothing here is okay." Lori whines and storms off.

"Lori…" Dale sighs.

 _We grabbed the guns. It wasn't easy. We fought off most of the dead ones. We stuck around and searched the city for about two hours. No Merle was to be seen…_

In the city, Rick and Daryl have had no luck finding Merle but have retrieved the bag of guns. Daryl won't stop until he gets his brother.

"Daryl, we need to get back it's gonna be getting dark soon." Rick says.

"We can't. We can't leave him. He's out here somewhere." Daryl quakes.

"Daryl, we don't know that. But we do know that are a shit-ton of walkers coming this way. And we need to leave." Rick commands.

"Fine…" Daryl sighs. Rick and Daryl begin to make their way back to the train lines.

Suddenly, a jeep speeding past them interrupts them. "Daryl, get down!" Rick demands quietly.

"No! That could be Merle!" Daryl insists and begins to chase the jeep. After a few seconds the jeep was long gone and Daryl was out of breath. "Shit…" Daryl sighs.

"Come on. Let's head home." Rick sighs and comforts Daryl.

Rick and Daryl get back to the van and begin to head back to the quarry.

"Look…I'm sorry. I'm sorry we couldn't find him." Rick sighs.

"He's alive. That's the main thing." Daryl mutters.

"Is he? And for how long?" Rick replies.

"Long enough. I know my brother. He'll be back. He's like a leap frog. Always comes back to where it's been once before." Daryl explains.

"Are you sure that's accurate?" Rick laughs. Daryl laughs.

"No. But we tried. We could have tried harder but we did TRY. I've accepted that. It's hard coming back empty handed without him but thank you – for trying with me." Daryl says gratefully. Rick nods.

 _We tried. But no Merle was to be found. If Daryl believes his brother is alive then who am I to question that and doubt it. I knew my family was alive and stopped at nothing to find them. I admire Daryl's bravery to accept that he wouldn't see his brother today. But I believe he will see Merle again. Not today. Not tomorrow. But I know we will see Merle Dixon again…_


	9. Chapter 9: Sitting Round The Fire

Chapter Nine: Sitting Round the Fire

As the sun begins to set the campers gather around the fire.

"It's getting dark! They should be back by now! What do you reckon is taking them so long?" Lori asks with worry.

"They'll be back." Glenn says.

"I know they will." Carl adds.

"My guess is, there's three possible options…" Shane begins. Lori rolls her eyes. "Number one, Merle went crazy and killed Rick and so he and Daryl took off." Shane explains.

"And number two?" Dale asks.

"Well, maybe Merle was dead and Daryl killed Rick out of retaliation and took off or maybe they both got swarmed by walkers or something." Shane continues.

"And number three?" Jaqui asks.

"That they are on their way right now…" Shane rejoices.

"Well finally, some positivity out of you." T-Dog says.

"Say, anyone know where my girls are?" Edna asks.

"Oh they're uh, preparing a surprise for us apparently." Dale reveals.

"Oh, baby. Will you look at that?" Carlos says as his attention is drawn to Andrea and Amy walking over carrying a huge amount of fish they caught earlier.

"Hey, check it out." T-Dog laughs with excitement.

"Ladies Because of you my children will eat tonight. Thank you." Carlos says thankfully.

"Thank Dale. It's his canoe and gear." Andrea says.

"Mom, look. Look at all the fish." Carl says.

"Yeah, whoa. Where did you two learn to do that?" Lori asks with surprise.

"Our dad. He taught us what we know." Amy replies.

"Can you teach me how to do that?" Carl asks.

"Sure. I'll teach you all about nail knots and stuff. If that's okay." Amy offers and asks Lori.

"You won't catch me arguing." Lori laughs.

"Alright, well…let's prepare dinner! The boys will be back soon and my bet is, they'll be hungry." Andrea says.

That night, whilst the campers are sitting around the fire eating dinner, Ed is hiding in his tent being comforted by Carol and Sophia. His face is badly bruised and he looks awful.

"I'm sorry…" Carol sighs again.

"Sure. You will be." Ed grunts.

"Ed, why don't you come outside with everybody?" Carol asks.

"It's a feast daddy." Sophia adds.

"Hell with them people. Wouldn't piss on them if their heads were on fire." Ed mutters.

"Fine. We'll leave you be." Carol says as she and Sophia begin to exit the tent but Ed grabs Sophia.

"Hey! Why don't you stay here? Keep your daddy company." He insisted. Sophia looks at her dad with fear.

"Ed, she wants to join in." Carol stutters. Ed sighs.

"Come on." Carol sighs and takes Sophia out to the fire.

"Fine. Hell with the both of you. Ain't no need to be bothering me no more the rest of the night. Ya hear me? Leave me alone. Sleep outside. Like the dog you are Carol!" Ed grunts.

Around the fire, the campers sat happily eating their fish feast.

"Pass the fish, please." Sophia asks.

"Here you go." Glenn says.

"I don't usually like fish…" Serena mutters.

"Like you have a choice in this situation." Mia laughs.

"Oh Miss Ling and Leo that's so cool. You're making sushi or something." Jenny says.

"That's creative." Sally adds.

"Yes. Sushi like." Ling nods.

"Man o man, that's good." Shane chuckles.

"I miss this!" T-Dog adds.

"Damn!" Brandan adds.

"I've got to ask you, man. It's been driving me crazy." Carlos chuckles as he looks over at Dale.

"What?" Dale asks.

"That watch." Carlos begins.

"What's wrong with my watch?" Dale laughs.

"I see you every day, the same time, winding that thing like a village priest saying mass." Carlos continues.

"I've wondered this myself." Andrea adds.

"I'm missing the point." Dale inquires with a smile.

"Unless I've misread the signs, the world seems to have come to an end. At least hit a speed bump for a good long while." Jaqui says.

"But there's you every day winding that stupid watch." Carlos laughs.

"Time – it's important to keep track, isn't it? The days at least. Don't you think, Andrea? Back me up here." Dale begs. Andrea rolls her eyes and laughs. Dale seems disappointed.

"I agree with you, Dale." Edna smiles.

"Si, me too." Maria adds.

"Thank you. I like…I like what, um, a father said to son when he gave him a watch that had been handed down through generations. He said, "I give you the mausoleum of all hope and desire, which will fit your individual needs no better than it did mine or my father's before me; I give it to you not that you may remember time, but that you may forget it for a moment now and then and not spend all of your breath trying to conquer it." I like that." Dale explains proudly.

The campers are silent – either hiding a laugh or not sure what to say. "You are so weird." Amy smiles. Everyone laughs.

"It's not me. It's Faulkner. William Faulkner. Maybe my bad paraphrasing." Dale laughs.

"Excuse me for a minute." Edna says and gets up.

"Where are you going?" Amy asks.

"I have to pee. Jeez, you try to be discreet around here and you can't…" Edna chuckles as she heads into the RV to pee.

Meanwhile, Ed is disturbed by the sound of rustling outside the tent. "Thought I told y'all to leave me the hell alone, didn't I?" he grunts but the rustling continues. "Hey! What'd I say?" he grunts and opens the tent startled to see a walker outside snarling at him. "Oh! Shit!" Ed gulps as the walker grabs him and bites a chunk out of his neck. Ed falls back onto the mattress and shakes with fear. "H...help…" he stutters but can't shout loud enough. Another walker crawls into the tent and the two walkers feed on Ed.

Edna then steps back out of the RV. "Everything okay Edna?" Dale asks.

"We're out of toilet paper…" Edna giggles with embarrassment.

Suddenly a walker comes out from behind the RV and grabs Edna by the arm and bites her. Edna screams. Amy and Andrea look back and gasp.

"No!" Andrea gasps.

"Mom!" Amy cries.

Many more walkers surrounding the camp then startle the campers.

"Mom!" Carl shouts.

"Carl! Come here!" Lori calls and pulls Carl close.

"Lori, get him down!" Shane demands as he begins to shoot the close approaching walkers behind Lori and Carl followed by others surrounding them.

"Mommy!" Sophia whines.

"It's okay baby." Carol cries.

Ling and Leo stand close with fear but suddenly a crawling walker grabs Leo by the leg and begins biting his foot. Leo screams. Ling then screams.

"Ling, over here! Come on!" Shane calls. Ling tries to run but is stopped by a walker that grabs her and bites the side of her face. Ling and Leo scream, as they are both being eaten.

Edna falls to the ground and Amy and Andrea rush over to their mother. Jim rushes over to fend off the walkers around them with Dale. "Sally, look after the teenagers!" Jim shouts as he brutally beats walkers with a baseball bat.

"Girls, you can't stay with her it's not safe." Dale cries as he fights walkers off with a hammer.

Jenny, Brandan, Landon, Glenn, Serena and Mia begin to run to their tent but a swarm of walkers come at them.

"Shit!" Glenn gulps.

A walker then grabs Serena followed by many more walkers grabbing her and biting her all over.

"No!" Brandan cries.

"C'mon!" Glenn demands and gets them to follow him. Other "background" campers are also trying to fight for their lives but are being attacked and eaten by walkers.

Another walker crawls out from under the RV and bites Edna on the neck. Edna screams.

"NO!" Andrea shouts and smashes its skull with a log.

Carl and Lori rush over to Shane. "I'm right here." Shane assures them.

"Shane, what do we do? Shane?" Lori quakes.

"No! No! Oh God! Oh my god! Mom!" Andrea cries as she holds her mother.

"Help me." Edna stutters.

"Oh God, I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do." Amy cries. Edna cries in pain.

"Come on. Come on, stay close. Carol! Stay close! Come on, y'all! Work your way up here!" Shane demands as he shoots approaching walkers.

"Right in front of you. Shane!" Lori gasps as more quickly approach.

"Get to the R.V." Carlos says as he and his family are the first inside.

"Andrea…Amy…come on, we need to go inside." Dale cries.

"No!" Amy cries.

"Just stop Dale!" Andrea snaps.

"Help us, Dale!" Amy begs.

"I can't. It's too late. You know that. I don't know what to do." Dale cries.

Suddenly Rick and Daryl return just in time – helping kill the remaining walkers.

"Lori! Carl! Lori! Carl!" Rick calls out with fear.

"Dad!" Carl cries and rushes over to Rick.

"Oh thank god you're back!" Lori gasps with relief and rushes over.

"Dale, can you give us a minute alone with our mother." Andrea asks.

"Sure…" Dale sighs and joins the others, checking on them.

"Mom…mom I'm so sorry…" Amy cries.

"Be strong…" Edna stutters. Amy nods as she continues to cry.

"Shhh…you don't have to say anything." Andrea whines. Edna's eyes begin to close.

"No! No! NO!" Amy cries. Amy and Andrea lay their heads on their mother's body crying over her.

Dale is then pulled aside by Jim. "What is it son?" Dale asks.

"I remember my dream now, why I dug the holes. I knew this was coming." Jim reveals.

"You've got to be kidding me." Dale scoffs.

"Nope...this is it." Jim insists with tears of confusion in his eyes. "I remember it so clearly…" he continues.


	10. Chapter 10: Sewer Run

Chapter Ten: sewer run

 _I can't even begin to explain how I'm feeling…what happened last night was…hard…out of nowhere. I don't know what would have happened if Daryl and I didn't get back when we did. Poor Edna…and the thought of that happening to Lori or Carl…it breaks me. I can't imagine how Andrea and Amy must feel. The quarry isn't as safe as we thought anymore. We couldn't stay here anymore…it was time to go…_

Amy and Andrea continue to cry over their dead mother. "Oh god…oh god…oh god…" Andrea cries.

"No…" Amy cries.

"Andrea. Amy. I'm so sorry. She's gone. You got to let us take her. We all cared about her and I promise we'll be as gentle as we can." Dale sighs.

"They still won't move?" Rick whispers over by the others.

"They won't even talk to us. They have been there all night. What do we do?" Lori replies.

"Can't just leave Edna like that. We need to deal with it same as the others. I'll tell her how it is." Rick sighs and begins to approach the girls.

"Girls…" Rick begins but Andrea pulls out her handgun.

"Andrea!" Rick gasps. Andrea cocks the gun.

"Don't worry, I know how the safety works." Andrea says and points it at Rick.

"Andrea what are you doing?" Amy gasps whilst continuing to sob.

"Alright. Okay. I'm sorry." Rick mutters and backs away. Amy and Andrea remain sobbing by Edna's side.

The others talk about what to do. "Y'all can't be serious. Let those girls hamstring us? The dead lady's a time bomb." Daryl says with worry.

"What do you suggest?" Rick asks.

"Take the shot. Clean, in the brain from here. Hell, I can hit a turkey between the eyes from this distance." Daryl explains.

"No. For God's sakes, let her be." Lori insists. Daryl scoffs and walks away.

Meanwhile, Jim, Glenn, T-Dog, Landon, Brandan and Jaqui are getting rid of the bodies. Daryl then joins them and helps Carlos drag a body over to a pile of burning corpses. "Thanks." Carlos says.

"No problem." Daryl replies.

"What are you guys doing? This is for geeks. Our people go over there." Glenn gasps.

"What's the difference? They're all infected." Daryl replies.

"Our people go in that row over there. We don't burn them! We bury them. Understand? Our people go in that row over there." Glenn demands.

Carlos and Daryl then carry the body over to row of dead campers. "You reap what you sow." Daryl mutters.

"You know what? Shut up, man." Carlos snaps.

"Y'all left my brother for dead. You had this coming." Daryl grunts.

Jaqui goes over to Jim who is staring into the distance. "Jim, are you okay?" She asks.

"I'm fine." He replies.

"Are you sure?" she insists.

"I just can't help but feel responsible. I saw this coming and did nothing to stop it." Jim sobs.

"Baby, this ain't your fault. Okay. Come here." Jaqui sighs and embraces Jim in a hug.

Rick interrupts. "Guys come over here we need to discuss the plan." Rick says and the others gather – except for Andrea and Amy.

"Here's my plan, I say we put a pickaxe in that lady's head and be done with it." Daryl reveals.

"Is that what you'd want if it were you?" Shane asks.

"Yeah, and I'd thank you while you did it." Daryl scoffs.

"You'd be dead." Glenn replies.

"I hate to say it I never thought I would but maybe Daryl's right." Dale sighs.

"Edna's not a monster, Dale, or some rabid dog." Rick sneered.

"I'm not suggesting…" Dale tries to continue.

"She's dead!" Rick continues.

"I know that! I connected with that woman! I'm as upset as the rest of us. But if we need to leave, then we need to leave soon and this is slowing us down." Dale explains.

"Look, after all this, I say we head to the city. I heard the C.D.C. was working on a cure." Rick explains.

"I heard that too." Jaqui adds.

"Heard a lot of things before the world went to hell." Shane mutters.

"What if the C.D.C. is still up and running?" Rick suggests.

"Man, that is a stretch right there." Shane says.

"Why? If there's any government left, any structure at all, they'd protect the C.D.C. at all costs, wouldn't they? I think it's our best shot. Shelter, protection…" Rick explains.

"Okay, Rick, you want those things, all right? I do too, okay? Now if they exist, they're at the army base. Fort Benning. It's only east of Atlanta and it's inland." Shane explains.

"That's 100 miles in the opposite direction." Lori scoffs.

"That is right. But it's away from the hot zone. Now listen to me. If that place is operational, it'll be heavily armed. We'd be safe there." Shane pleads.

"The military were on the front lines of this thing. Renee told me herself. They got overrun. We've all seen that. The C.D.C. is our best choice and could be our only chance at beating this." Rick assures them.

Shane is irritated. "We'll talk about this later." Shane mutters.

"I'll go check on the girls." Dale sighs.

Dale approaches Amy and Andrea. "I came to pay my respects." Dale sighs and crouches beside them. Andrea rolls her eyes.

"Thank you." Amy sighs.

"Did I ever mention how I lost my wife?" Dale asks.

"Cancer, wasn't it?" Amy asks.

"Yeah. I dragged her to every doctor, every test. And after all the surgeries and the chemos, she was ready. She accepted it, you know? But I never could. And I spent the last few years so angry. I felt so cheated. Since she passed, you girls were the first people that I cared anything for. And your mother, I was really starting to form a special bond with her too…" Dale sighs, tearing up a little.

"I'm sorry." Amy sighs.

"You're mother was a beautiful amazing woman. And I am so sorry." Dale says.

"Thank you." Andrea cries and hugs Dale.

Meanwhile, Daryl is squishing the brains of all their dead campers. He is about to squish Ed's with a pickaxe but Carol approaches him. "I'll do it. He's my husband." She sobs. Daryl nods and passes her the pickaxe. Carol sobs as she raises the pickaxe and then smashes it into Ed's skull. She then raises it again and repeats. Each time she hits harder and harder, crying more. "I'm sorry!" she sobs.

"Whoa, hey…c'mon…that's enough." Daryl says and takes the pickaxe out of her hand and holds her as she falls to the ground and cries in his arms.

As Dale walks away from the girls, Edna begins to open her eyes and snarl. Andrea lifts Edna up and holds her in her arms.

"No! Andrea no!" Amy cries.

At first it appears as if Andrea is going to shoot herself.

"No!" Dale shouts.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Mom I'm so sorry…I love you." Andrea cries.

Andrea pulls the trigger.

She shot her mother in the head.

Andrea and Amy embrace and continue to sob.

 _I repeat…Emotional…that's what that was. Emotional. Having to do that to your own mother. I mean - to do that to any loved one would be heartbreaking. Andrea is one brave son of a bitch. She's strong and tough and she has real guts to get through this thing. She will. We all will – I hope. But before I could focus on the future I had to get everybody on board with going to the C.D.C. I remember Morgan telling me about it, maybe they went there…maybe they're still there now. That's wishful thinking. But either way I had to get EVERYBODY on board – starting with Shane…_

Rick approaches Shane, who is over burying the campers. Shane is irritated still.

"Say it." Rick sighs.

"Okay. I'm thinking if you'd have stayed here, if you'd have looked after your own – Instead you went off. You took your damn time getting back. You're one of our strongest men Rick. You should have been here. Lori needed you. I needed you. But no you went off – I'm thinking maybe our losses wouldn't have been so bad if you'd have stayed." Shane rants.

"If we hadn't gone off and brought those guns back when we did, I think our losses would have been a lot worse. Maybe the entire camp." Rick assures him.

Daryl then joins them, brining over some more corpses. "I still think it's a mistake not burning these bodies. It's what we said we'd do, right? Burn 'em all, wasn't that the idea?" Daryl asks.

"At first." Shane responds.

"The Chinaman gets all emotional, says it's not the thing to do, we just follow him along? These people need to know who the hell's in charge here, - what the rules are." Daryl pleads.

"There are no rules." Rick replies.

"Well, that's a problem. We haven't had one minute to hold onto anything of our old selves. We need time to mourn and we need to bury our dead. It's what people do." Lori mutters as she approaches them followed by Amy and Andrea carrying Edna's body wrapped in a sheet. Dale follows to help them.

"We got this Dale! We got this! We can do it!" Andrea insists as she and Amy gently place their mothers corpse in one of the holes.

Lori gets emotional at the scene, watching this is heartbreaking for everyone to see.

Glenn and the others join them.

"Would anyone care to say a few words about any of the deceased?" Rick asks.

"I'll go first…" Amy sobs as Andrea hugs her. "My mother, she was an absolute amazing woman. The best mom I could ever ask for. My mother was a warm, compassionate and vibrant woman who always went out of her way to help others – no matter what. She was a proud and dignified woman who had a passion for life. She had a wonderful sense of humour which endeared her to everyone she came in contact with and it is a great testament to her nature that she formed so many long lasting friendships over the years. I wish you all got the chance to find that out yourself but unfortunately not. My mother was born in a time when songs like Over the Rainbow by Judy Garland were being played over the wireless, and WWII had just been declared. She grew up in a small house in Chicago with her mother, Elisabeth – having lost her father in the war when she was only an infant. It was a difficult time, but they were both strong individuals and managed wonderfully. Mom was brought up with traditional values and learnt the skills that a woman of her era should – cooking, sewing, knitting and embroidery, as well as a love of history. She became a secondary school teacher and was a favourite at the school she taught – particularly a favourite with my father as this was where they first met. Our mother taught my sister and I many things as young kids that hold us in good stead today– good manners, respect and sound moral values. These values have made me who I am and I thank her so very, very much. Our family grew up with little money, but we were always well fed and well dressed. We weren't poor we just, were different. Mom left teaching and opened her own store where she sold her craft work and dad became a college professor. My mother spent hours in her sewing room making beautiful outfits for us to wear, or knitting jumpers in preparation for winter. I will always remember our Christmases together – going to the church, all the chaos in the kitchen as Mom prepared for Christmas dinner, and the wonderful feeling of us all being together. Mom also carried on Grandma's traditional recipes like her Christmas putting, her thanksgiving ambrosia and so much more. As an adult she became my best friend, advisor and confidante. I wasn't always close with her; in fact both Andrea and I were closer to our father. Maybe this was because he spent more time with us but we knew mom did the best she could. Her greatest quality was to encourage me to make the best of everything and to face problems head on. She was a proud woman who believed that there was no obstacle that couldn't be overcome. Mom had many friends of all ages. Even in retirement, she would have an endless stream of friends dropping in - kids in the neighbourhood would come over to ask Mum questions about their pet, school or to eat one of her home-baked cookies. Well she never really retired technically cause she still had her business running. But that's just who she is – who she was. Mom has always been my support, strength and comfort when times have been tough. I don't know how I will cope without her – it leaves a massive hole in my life. But I will draw strength from the things she taught me and live by the words from Desdemona that my mother always quoted, as if her own: "Accept the things you cannot change and change the things you can". It is an honour to stand before you and share my precious memories of my mother. She will be missed by all, but her memory will live on in us all forever. I love you so much, Mom, and will miss you more than words can say." Amy sobs.

Andrea cries into her sister's shoulder. "Thank you." Andrea cries.

The group are left teary-eyed after the speech. "Uh, that was beautiful Amy. Anyone else?" Rick says sniffling and clearing his throat.

"Yeah. I didn't know Edna too well but the time I spent with her made me so happy. She made me feel the same way my wife did. She was an amazing woman in the short time I got the privilege to get to know her." Dale adds.

"I'd like to say a few things about Serena. Serena was a beautiful. Funny. Interesting girl. She was one of the most FLEXIBLE cheerleaders I've ever met – and I have met a lot of cheerleaders." Landon begins.

"Okay shut up!" Jenny scoffs.

"Jenny!" Landon grunts.

"No. Serena was certainly "interesting" but she was a bimbo. A dumb, annoying, blonde, wannabe bimbo. She was a stone cold bitch and she got what was coming. She never would have survived this thing. It's logic." Jenny adds and then steps back. The group are silent and shocked by Jenny's words.

"Carol? You wanna say something for Ed?" Daryl asks. Carol nods.

"Ed was a difficult man – a difficult husband. But I can't believe he's gone. I loved him. I stuck by no matter how hard it got! You all may think I'm an idiot but you don't understand. He wasn't always like the way you all saw him. We were once happy. We were. And now my daughter has to grow up in this horrible world without a father…" Carol sobs. Everyone is silent. Carol begins to slightly laugh. "Maybe that's for the best." She chuckles. "Rest in peace Ed. I love you…I'll see you in hell." Carol finishes.

"I just wanna say really quick also, that Ling and Leo were very awesome people." Glenn says.

"You gotta say that – you're Asian!" Daryl laughs.

"I'm Korean…" Glenn mutters.

"Anyway, let's head back to camp we need to get ready to move." Rick says.

 _After the funerals I couldn't shut off my brain. At the funeral, I was standing there watching all the emotion and it was hard. I don't like funerals… never have. Nobody really does but a funeral in a world like this was ten-times more depressing. You know the slow solemn songs that usually get played? None of those! Not even beautifully selected cheery songs were playing. There was no church. No coffins. Just bodies wrapped in sheets being dropped into holes. But as they were talking about our deceased friends' life, and recounting the things they'd done, it got me thinking…our time on this planet goes by very, very fast. Nothing makes you appreciate that more than being at a funeral…standing there and watching the emotion, couldn't help think the entirely obvious thing- ALL of us there, are headed to that same place, especially in this new-world, and will probably arrive much faster than we realise. Time waits for no one…And the decisions we make today, will determine what kind of a life we're leading in a years, or even a few months from now…_

As the campers returned back to the camp Rick snuck up behind Lori. "Burying other people is bad enough, - but the thought of one of us…" Rick whispers.

"Shhh, I know…" Lori sighs.

"Are we safe now, dad? Now that we're together?" Carl asks.

"I won't leave again. I promise you that. Not for anything. Now give me a chance to discuss some things with your mom, okay?" Rick assures his son.

"Yeah. All right." Carl nods.

"All right. That's my boy." Rick smiles as Carl rushes over to play with Sophia.

Lori and Rick remain alone. "Shane blames me for not being here. Do you?" Rick asks. Lori is hesitant. She is unsure of what to say. Rick is disappointed. "We got guns now. We're stronger." Rick pleads.

"And we have fewer people. That makes us weaker. You want me to say I think you were right? I understand that. All I can say is that neither one of you is entirely wrong. It's the best I can do right now. But you were right earlier, we do need to all talk and decide what's going to happen." Lori explains.

"What about the C.D.C.?" Rick asks.

"Rick…" Lori sighs doubtfully.

"We're at the ragged edge here. We have a shot at beating this thing – it's our closest, safest bet. I don't know why people can't see that." Rick sighs with frustration.

"Well, look at their faces. Look at mine. We're all terrified. If one of us suggested, based on a hunch, that we head toward that city, you'd have no part of it. Tell me something with certainty." Lori hisses.

"I love you. That's all I got." Rick states with honesty.

"I love you too." Lori sighs. They embrace as Lori trembles with worry.

That afternoon, Lori is sitting alone by the RV and Shane joins her. "I need you to help talk some sense into Rick." Shane begins. Lori rolls her eyes. "Look, this C.D.C. thing, Lori, it's a mistake." Shane explains. Lori shrugs and doesn't know what to say. "So you're backing him?" Shane grunts.

"What else would I do? He's my husband." Lori scoffs.

"Look, it may be time for you to play the dutiful wife, but you can't tell me that fixing your marriage is worth putting people's lives at risk." Shane fumes at her.

"I think folks around here can make up their minds without bringing my marriage into it. It's a habit you need to break." Lori hisses back.

"I guess I'll just add it to the list of habits that I'm breaking whether I like it or not." Shane replies as Rick joins them – almost busting them talking about their affair.

"What habits?" Rick asks. Shane and Lori look both equally guilty and busted.

"Just talking about my need for a plan, man." Shane lies. Lori nods.

"So what is it? Are we leaving or not? Maybe y'all just want to stay here. We could hang some more tin cans." Shane begins to ramble.

"We can't stay here. We both know that." Rick assures him.

"I was just telling Shane I think we should trust your gut." Lori adds before leaving the two of them to work it out.

"Tell you what, man, these people, man, they're not convinced. You know? You head to the C.D.C., you might be on your own. You gotta really consider whether you want to put Lori and Carl in that kind of spot." Shane begins.

"I got to do what's best for my family." Rick assures him.

"Best for your family? What's that? - Exposing them to all kinds of risks?" Shane scoffs.

"As opposed to what? Crossing 100 miles of hostile territory? To get to some military? If we're looking for a lifeline, I say swim toward the closest ship, not further out to sea. Why can't you back me up?" Rick asks with frustration.

"Look, I want to. It's just I don't see it." Shane sighs.

"If it was your family, you'd feel differently." Rick mutters. Shane is insulted – Lori and Carl were HIS FAMILY whilst Rick was gone.

"What did you say to me? I kept 'em safe, man. I looked after them like they were my own. That's what I did!" Shane snaps.

"I didn't mean it that way." Rick mutters.

"Well, how'd you mean it? Go on, man. How'd you mean it?" Shane demands.

Rick sighs and feels bad. "You're misinterpreting me. All right. You're just hearing it wrong. I'm sorry." Rick explains.

"Yeah? Is that so? I know what I'm hearing!" Shane grunts.

"Look, you know…you know I can never repay that debt, okay?" Rick sighs apologetically.

"I need to be alone. I need to think." Shane sighs.

"Alright then." Rick replies and leaves Shane alone. Shane looks over and stares at Lori and Carl. He smiles – missing them both.

That night, all the campers were sitting around the fire – still mourning after last night's nightmare. "I've been, uh I've been thinking about Rick's plan. Now look, there are no…there are no guarantees either way. I'll be the first one to admit that. I've known this man a long time. I trust his instincts. I say the most important thing here is we need to stay together. So those of you that agree, we leave first thing in the morning. Okay?" Shane states to the group.

Rick and Lori are equally shocked and surprised by Shane's choice. Rick shakes Shane's hand and they clear the tension.

"Thank you Shane. We leave first thing in the morning. Y'all sleep on it and I hope you make the right decision to come with us." Rick adds.

 _So I got Shane on board. We were heading to the CDC tomorrow and maybe, just maybe things will be normal again. This nightmare would finally be over…_

The next morning, Rick takes a morning stroll before he and the others prepare to leave. He grabs his walkie-talkie and speaks into it.

"We're moving out, leaving the quarry. If you're still nearby or decided to come back I just wanted you to know we'll be gone by the time you arrive. Chances are you won't be coming back but I had to let you know just in case. I'm leaving a note and map behind for you taped to a red car so you can follow our trail. We're heading to the C.D.C. If there's anything left, it's got to be there, don't you think? Morgan I hope you were right about that place. I need you to be. This could finally be the end of all this. When this is all over, I'd like us to really be friends. I hope you're all okay…goodbye." Rick says.

Moments later Rick joins Shane and the others by the camp. "Everybody listen up. Those of you with C.B.s, we're gonna be on channel 40. Let's keep the chatter down, okay? Now you got a problem, don't have a C.B., can't get a signal or anything at all, you're gonna hit your horn one time. That'll stop the caravan and we'll come help. Daryl you'll ride your motorcycle. Glenn, Dale, Andrea, Amy, Landon, Brandan, Mia and Jenny – you guys will be in the RV. Jaqui, T-Dog, Jim, Sally, Carlos, Maria, Havier, Helena, you'll be in the cube van with me. Lori, Carl, Carol, Sophia and Rick you guys will take the wagon over there. All right. Come on. Let's go. Let's move out." Shane orders.

The groups get into their vehicles and start their engines before leaving the quarry.

After arriving at the C.D.C., they all get out of their vehicles and approach the building. They knock. Repeatedly. "Hello!" Rick shouts.

"Hello?" Shane adds.

"Nothing." Daryl sighs.

"No one is here." T-Dog grunts.

Suddenly Sophia screams and points in the direction of their parked vehicles.

The group look back and see a HUGE herd of walkers coming toward them.

"Walkers!" Daryl shouts and shoots one with his crossbow.

"Shit…" Rick mutters.

"You led us into a graveyard!" Daryl snaps.

"He made a call. Like a leader." Dale says.

"It was the wrong damn call!" Daryl snaps.

"Just shut up. You hear? Shut up. Shut up!" Shane snaps and pushes Daryl back.

The group turn to Rick. "We don't have much time." Jaqui quakes.

"Rick, this is a dead end." Shane states.

"Where are we gonna go?" Carol cries.

"They're blocking our cars!" Jenny adds.

"Do you hear me? No blame." Shane continues.

"She's right. We can't be here, this close to the city after dark." Lori stammers.

"Fort Benning, Rick Still an option." Shane insists.

"On what? No food, no fuel. That's 100 miles. I checked the map. Forget Fort Benning. We need answers tonight, now. Rick come on, what's the plan?" Andrea replies.

"Shit! A huge pack of them are coming!" Glenn gasps.

"We can't fight em all off even if we tried." Jim mutters.

"The sewers! I know it was dangerous but there won't likely be many down there!" Carlos suggests as he spots a manhole.

"That's all we got." Lori agrees. Shane is unsure.

"You got a better idea?" Rick asks.

"No." Shane sighs.

"Come on. Fight em off! Stay together!" Rick shouts as they begin to move as a group to the manhole, fighting off walkers.

They eventually make it to the hole, continuing to fight walkers.

"Come on! Everybody down!" Rick orders.

Glenn goes down first followed by Sally, Carlos, Maria, Havier, Helena, Dale, Andrea, Amy, Brandan, Landon, Mia, Jenny, Lori, Carl, Carol, Sophia and Shane.

Several walkers grab Jim but T-Dog and Rick fight them off.

"Come on!" Rick grunts.

Jaqui is about to go down but is pulled into a crowd of walkers.

"Jaqui! No! Come on!" T-Dog cries out.

"It's okay baby! I'll be fine. I'll hold em off. Just go!" Jaqui insists.

T-Dog, Jim and Rick then go down the manhole and Jaqui closes it and collapses herself on top of the manhole for extra protection as the walkers rip her apart.

Once in the manhole, the group are saddened by Jaqui's death but must keep moving.

"I'm sorry…" Andrea sighs and hugs T-Dog, because they were close.

"Alright, which way?" Shane asks.

"Shhh…" Rick insists as he urges them to listen. They hear multiple growls and snarling coming from the left path in the sewer. "Right! We run right!" Rick demands and they begin to run but Jim falls.

"Ow!" he screams in pain. Sally rushes back to him.

"Jim! What is it?" She asks. He lifts his shirt – revealing a bite on his side. "Jim! No!" Sally cries.

The others look back. "Shit…" Rick sighs.

"Leave me…" Jim begs.

"Sally…come on…" Rick insists.

"No!" Sally cries.

"GO!" Jim demands, as the snarling gets closer.

The group run through the sewers leaving Jim behind, eventually hearing his scream as walkers obviously found him. The group run for a long while. Left. Right. Straight. Left. Left. Right. Straight.

"What the hell is the plan Rick?" Shane grunts.

"We can't keep running in circles!" Lori cries.

Suddenly they come fact to face with a little boy and his teenage sister.

"What the…" Daryl mutters.

"Who are you? What are you doing down here alone?" Rick asks.

"I'm Lex, and this is my little brother Tim. We were hiding form those things." The girl, Lex, explains.

"Are either of you bitten?" Daryl asks.

"No." Tim replies.

"How long have you been down here?" Lori asks.

"I can't remember the last time I saw sunlight." Lex sighs.

"Don't worry, we'll take care of you. Come on." Rick insists.

"So, where are we going?" Shane asks.

"I honestly do not know. Wherever this tunnel leads us." Rick responds nervously.

 _Where were we going? I had no idea. Was it safe? Not at all. Walkers could be lurking around any corner. We found two kids, Lex and Tim – they haven't seen the sun in a while. And I guess my friends and me may never see it for a while too… because in all honesty, I froze. Totally blanked. I had no idea where we were going and what we were going to do. We were screwed…_


	11. Publisher Note

Thank you for reading Season One (Book One) of my Walking Dead Fan Fiction, i hope you enjoyed. There are many more stories to come.

Season two will be going in a whole new direction, it won't be like the show's second season at all. In fact, the second season of Codez FanFiction's - TWD - will actually crossover/reference a very well-known popular zombie flick we all know and love.

Where will the sewers take Rick and his group of survivors? Stay tuned to find out.

Please leave feedback and let me know what you think. If you have any questions or ideas, please let me know. :)

Thank you,

\- Codez FanFiction


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